Page 14 - Beverage MasterOct Nov 2020

Craft Brewery

5 Building Blocks to Build an

Effective Brewery Budget

By: Kary Shumway, CPA, CFO, Numbers Guy
T he Fall season is upon us and that means is indispensable. Likewise, the budget planning pro-
it’s time to create your brewery budget.
cess is indispensable for your brewery business.
This document will serve as the financial
road map for your business and will pro- In this article, we’ll review the key building blocks
vide clear directions to reach your sales and profit to create your budget and provide tips so that you
goals for the coming year. can get started (and finished) quickly. An effective
brewery budget is within your reach.
One challenge of the budget process is that it
feels like an overwhelming task. There are so many Brewery Budget Quick-Start
numbers, so many unknowns and so many changes
that come up unexpectedly in the brewery busi- To get started with your budget, I recommend
ness. How can you accurately predict everything writing out the plan in words first. Don’t worry
that will happen and get it all down on paper? The about the numbers right now, just write down your
short answer is that you can’t. goals, objectives and strategy for the coming year.
The numbers will come easier after that.
As the saying goes, plans are useless, but planning

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