Page 118 - Budgeting for Managers

correctly linked to the right line of a spreadsheet and that
any figures in the budgetary assumptions match the fig-
ures in the spreadsheet.
The Final Proofreading Steps Checking It Twice 101
When you think everything is ready, you need to do three last
checks:
•Before you print, check for correct page numbers, head-
ers, footers, title pages, and notes or appendices.
•After you print, do a buddy-check to compare the starting
numbers for this year or period and the closing numbers
from last year or the last period.
•After you print, let everything sit overnight and look at it
in the morning. With fresh eyes, you can catch the mis-
takes that you hadn’t noticed—like a misspelling of the
company’s name on the title page.
If you need to make a presentation of your budget at a
meeting, then you may want to add a slide show or charts and
diagrams. We’ll take a look at that in Chapter 7, Preparing for
Presentation.

Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 6
❏ Everyone makes mistakes—and it’s very hard to find your
own mistakes.
❏ Make a rule that everyone’s work (especially your own) is
checked by someone else.
❏ Use checksums and checksum columns in your spread-
sheets.
❏ Use a system for document version control. If your compa-
ny doesn’t have one, set up a simple set of checklists and
filenames with dates for your department.
❏ Link spreadsheets after each spreadsheet is complete and
correct. This prevents errors from creeping in.