For companies, budgeting and forecasting are among their mostimportant activities. Unfortunately, very few are satisfied withthe processes surrounding these two functions, according to a newstudy of large companies from accounting firmPricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

The study found that most (56%) of the 200 respondents–”C-level”executives, vice presidents or directors with deep knowledge offinancial planning processes at companies with $2 billion inrevenue and more–believe that too much of the time and money spenton budgeting and forecasting goes toward low-value activities, suchas data collection and consolidation, approvals and reportpreparation. The processes are also not particularly automated with70% of respondents still depending on spreadsheets to plan. Only17% of those participating in the survey were satisfied with thecurrent processes; of the remaining participants, 70% said theywere somewhat satisfied with the financial planning process, whilethe remaining 13% said they were not satisfied.

And the biggest problem, it would seem, is a massive disconnectbetween budgeting and planning and actual performance andstrategizing. Fewer than one in three felt that budgeting andforecasting was aligned with actual performance, and 52% said thatcreating tighter linkages between strategy and finance was a toppriority.

But there's no time like the present to address the problemsince 65% believe that the importance of budgeting and planning isdestined to increase over time. “When we look at best-practicescompanies, they've really got the budgeting and forecasting processdown, where it's more of a dialogue, a strategic discussion,” saysGary Apanaschik, a partner in PWC's finance effectiveness practice.“Finance can't be in a silo of their own. They need to reach outand act as a catalyst.”