IT Budget Tracking System

Context

The IT department lacked a centralized system for tracking and managing its $10M+ annual budget across multiple cost centers, projects, and vendors. Budget data lived in silos - across spreadsheets, inboxes, and disconnected reports - making it difficult to forecast spending, identify variances, or make informed decisions about resource allocation.

Challenge

• No single source of truth for IT financial data
• Manual, error-prone processes for budget tracking and reporting
• Limited visibility into vendor spending and contract utilization
• Difficulty forecasting and planning for future expenditures
• Inconsistent financial reporting to leadership

Approach

1. Requirements Gathering: I worked with IT leaders, finance teams, and project managers to identify key requirements for budget tracking
2. System Design: I designed a comprehensive solution with interconnected tracking for different financial aspects (vendors, projects, capital vs. operational expenses)
3. Automation Development: I built automated workflows for data validation, approval routing, and notification triggers when thresholds were exceeded
4. Dashboard Creation: I created role-based dashboards providing different views for executives, managers, and project leads
5. Integration: I established connections to procurement and finance systems to reduce manual data entry and improve accuracy

Result

• Consolidated all IT financial data into a single, accessible system
• Reduced budget tracking and reporting time by 75%
• Improved forecast accuracy by 40% through better historical data analysis
• Identified $850K in potential savings through improved vendor management
• Enabled real-time financial visibility for leadership decision-making

Skills Demonstrated

• Financial systems design and implementation
• Workflow automation and dashboard development
• Process optimization and standardization
• Data integration and validation
• Financial reporting and analysis

Lessons Learned

• Financial transparency drives better decision-making
• Automated alerts prevent budget surprises
• Role-based views increase system adoption
• Integration with finance systems is essential for accuracy