Budgeting and forecasting season is underway. Some businesses may have begun their annual budget process as early as April, while others will still be in the early stages, budgeting and forecasting season is one of the most important times of the financial year for real estate companies. In this dynamic and rapidly changing industry, which is currently experiencing numerous challenges, a robust understanding of your financial position is vital if you want to remain competitive. 

Fortunately, MRI Software is here to help you. In today’s post, we will take a closer look at MRI’s Budgeting and Forecasting solution and what you need to know to make the most of it. 

MRI Budgeting and Forecasting

MRI Budgeting and Forecasting is a comprehensive software solution that allows you to produce dynamic budgets quickly and easily, and with better accuracy than can be achieved with manual budgeting. When used properly, tools like MRI can save time on the budget process, givingstronger insights into your company’s financial performance. 

MRI Budgeting and Forecasting creates centralized budgets, allowing for collaboration while maintaining data integrity. The system provides excellent flexibility, including the ability to create multiple workbooks that may be worked on simultaneously by various team members. It also provides extensive current and historical data and produces precise projections with configurable leasing assumptions, giving clients actionable insights that can be used to make smarter business decisions. 

Three Ways to Get the Most Out of MRI Budgeting and Forecasting

In this section, we will share key information for getting the most out of tools like MRI Budgeting and Forecasting. 

Plan Ahead and Get Started Early

MRI Budgeting and Forecasting can be intuitive to use after getting started, but it does require some initial setup. In addition, training may be needed to ensure that team members have a complete understanding of the chosen software solution. Therefore, make sure to plan ahead, allowing plenty of time to get started. 

Provide the Tool With as Much Data as Possible

Like all real estate software tools, MRI Budgeting and Forecasting works best when provided with as much accurate data as possible. Therefore, ensure that you have input all relevant information into MRI. For example, if you have Recoveries set up in your system, this will pull to the budget module, allowing for recoveries to be calculated within MRI for the upcoming budget season. The budgeting and forecasting tool will then pull its data from what you have put into MRI. In other words, the better your setup, the better the budget will be from MRI’s Budgeting and Forecasting.

Reforecast as Necessary

MRI Budgeting and Forecasting allows you to pull in actual figures for a given time period and reforecast based upon that data or anything new that may have come to light. Some organizations reforecast as often as quarterly, while others do it rarely or not at all. We recommend deciding on a reforecasting schedule that makes sense for your business. 

Reforecasting allows you to see where your financial performance actually stands year-to-date and make decisions accordingly. For example, if you have overspent early in the year you may need to lower your budget for the remainder of the year. Or, if an expenditure you planned for has not yet occurred, you can reforecast based on when it has been rescheduled to take place.

Get Support With Your Budgeting and Forecasting With MRI

Our clients tell us that utilizing MRI Budgeting and Forecasting provides them with greater consistency and stronger consolidated reporting, as well as saving them time and staff hours. It streamlines business processes and significantly reduces the risks of human error that come with using manual solutions such as Excel. 

At REdirect, we have extensive experience in assisting clients with setting up real estate software solutions and making the most of them. 

No matter where you are on your journey—choosing the right solution for your company, considering the best ways to implement budgeting and forecasting software, or exploring new ways to make the most of your software investment—REdirect is here to support you. 

From setting up and configuring the system, to providing best practices and training for your team, we can tailor the level of support to meet your business requirements. REdirect can create the initial workbooks within Budgeting and Forecasting to kick off the budgeting process for your organization. REdirect can also work with your team to set up the main system framework and allow users to create the workbooks themselves. We offer support on an annual basis when budgeting season comes around. 

Contact REdirect today to learn more and to get started.