Budget Cycle Time
Number of days taken to complete the annual budgeting process from kick-off to board approval
What is Budget Cycle Time?
Budget cycle time is the number of days from the start of the budgeting process to board approval. It shows how long it takes an organisation to set its budget.
A long cycle uses a lot of management time and can leave numbers out of date by the time they are approved.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Finance
- Sub-function
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Industry
- All Industries
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- Efficiency
- Unit
- days
- Measurement frequency
- Annual
- Formula
- Date of board budget approval − Date of budget process kick-off
How to calculate it
Subtract the date the budget process kicked off from the date of board budget approval.
For example, if the process started on 1 September and the board approved on 15 December, the cycle time is 105 days.
Track the time spent in each stage, such as inputs, consolidation and review, and compare year on year.
Where it is used
Streamlining planning
Reduce effort.
Improving relevance
Use fresher assumptions.
Finding delays
See which stages slow things.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- A shorter cycle should not reduce the quality of decisions.
- Agree assumptions upfront.
- Compare year on year.
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