During the fall, the Finance and Business Services (FBS) team presented “Effectively Communicating Monthly Budget to Actual Financial Results” at the National Association of College and Business Officers (NACUBO) planning and budgeting forum held in Louisville, KY. NACUBO is a membership organization representing more than 1,900 colleges and universities across the country. The FBS team comprised of Robert Knox, financial analyst, Amaechi Okonma, financial analyst, Crystal Smith, manager, financial analysis, and Arleta Porter, executive director finance and business services, shared a 75-minute presentation with conference attendees.
Porter led with an introduction of the University of Chicago and the Facilities Services (FS) department. She stated, “If you understand the critical role that FS plays in supporting the University’s mission, then you will understand why we have created these processes to maximize fiscal control, accountability, and stewardship.” Smith and Knox presented the process and tools required to create a 12-month budget. Smith stated, “I thought the most impactful part of the presentation was demonstrating the tools that we actually use.” Conference attendees were provided with a variety of spreadsheet templates to support budget variance analysis.
As part of the FS vision to be A National Leader in Higher Education Facilities Services Management, FS will continue to routinely share our best practices through award and workshop submittals.