Long Term Financial Planning Check List

The CIPFA Directors of Finance Section has published a good practice checklist which covers long term financial planning. The checklist is an aide-memoire which provides a starting point to embedding long term financial planning in Scotland’s local authorities. There is no single or preferred recognised methodology but the checklist summarises what is considered to be good practice and provides practical guidance to Scotland’s senior finance and resources planning staff.

The checklist addresses the period of financial planning, financial modeling, resource allocation, systematic review of budget savings options, financial risk management, governance arrangements and stakeholder awareness.

Local authorities in Scotland have entered a period where the resources available for local services are expected to reduce in the short to medium term. Necessarily, local authorities are taking action to address this. As chief financial officers (CFO’s) however, we recognise that this short term action requires to be informed by an increasing emphasis on improved financial planning over a longer period.

The present funding system of 3 year grant settlements has historically resulted in a short to medium term approach with the statutory annual balanced budget seen as the key goal. This, however, should not preclude us as professionals from adopting a longer term approach to financial planning and linking policy driven decisions, with longer term service demand and available resources.

This checklist is the second in a series of three to be issued by Scotland’s Directors of Finance and provides the bridge between the first checklist on budgeting and the final checklist on workforce planning.

Download the check list

To download the long term financial planning checklist please click here.