EOFY Budgeting: The Smarter Way to Grow 20%

As we gear up for EOFY, one thing is crystal clear: a strong budget doesn’t start with a spreadsheet. It starts with a story, a clear, logical plan about where your sales will come from, and how that translates into real, sustainable profit.

Now, whether you’re working off the calendar year or the financial year, the principle is the same. Around this time, many business owners are setting their eyes on bigger numbers. A 20% uplift sounds attractive but unless you can break that number into its core components, you’re not budgeting, you’re guessing.

→ Clean Up Before You Close Off
→ Reality Check on Liabilities
→ Have a Budget Before July 1 Hits
→ What to Do Before You Commit
→In Summary

The Trap of "More Sales"

Let’s take an example: You did $10 million in sales this year. You’re targeting $12 million next year. Ambitious, sure.

But do you know:
•    What products or services will make up that $12M?
•    Who exactly you’ll be selling them to?
•    And if relevant, where those sales will come from (regions, segments, verticals)?

These three elements (What, Who, Where) are crucial. They turn a dream into a plan. And a plan into a forecast you can actually manage, measure, and course-correct.

Why This Matters

One of our clients recently came to us targeting $24 million in sales. They could clearly map out $19 million in known opportunities (specific clients, specific products). The remaining $5 million? We were fine with a degree of fuzziness there.

But if they’d only had $7 million mapped out and were guessing the rest? That’s a red flag.
Your level of certainty should grow with the size of your ambition. Not knowing who you’re selling to or what you’re selling them makes your budget more of a wish than a strategy.

Where an Outsourced CFO Adds Serious Firepower

If you're reading this thinking, “We don't have that clarity yet”, good. That’s exactly where an outsourced CFO can help. Here’s how:

1. Sales Target Breakdown (Reality-Checked)
We pressure test your topline sales goal and build out what it should actually look like broken down by product, client group, and region. No fluff, just grounded, data-informed targets.

2. Margin-Driven Forecasting
Sales are great but profit is king. We ensure your budget is designed to create healthy, scalable margins, not just top-line sugar highs.

3. Cross-Functional Alignment
A good CFO bridges the gap between finance, sales, ops, and leadership. We bring the right people together to agree on realistic, achievable goals and then help track them monthly.

4. Early-Warning System
We set up financial rhythms so you don’t find out in April that you’ve missed the mark set in July. You’ll know, early, what’s working and what’s not, and what levers to pull.

5. Accountability Without the Emotion
EOFY brings out optimism and sometimes delusion. We bring calm, commercial logic to decisions, making sure the numbers stack up before you invest, hire, or overreach.

Forecasts Aren’t Fortune Telling

This exercise isn’t about perfection. It's not a crystal ball. And it’s not a stick to beat your sales team with if they fall short. It’s a compass. A way to identify gaps early. To know where you're light, where you’re strong, and how to adjust mid-year when things inevitably change.

What To Do Next

As you wrap up this financial year and prepare for the next:

1. Start with your sales target.
2. Break it into what you’re selling, who you’re selling to, and where.
3. Pressure test it. Is 80% of that number backed by real, logical detail?
4. Bring in an external set of eyes, like an outsourced CFO, to sharpen the plan.
5. Use that intel to drive confidence, clarity, and accountability across the business.

EOFY is a line in the sand but what matters most is how clearly you can see the path on the other side of it.

Want help making sure your next 12 months are grounded in clarity and confidence?

Let’s talk. We help businesses like yours turn targets into strategies, and strategies into results.

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