Beyond the annual budget cycle and multi-year capital plan, governments need to identify long-term financial trends. Long-term financial planning involves projecting revenues, expenses, and key factors that have a financial impact on the organization. Understanding long-term trends and potential risk factors that may impact overall financial sustainability allows the finance officer to proactively address these issues. A long-term financial planning process allows decision-makers to focus on long-term objectives, encourages strategic thinking, and promotes overall awareness for financial literacy in an organization.

Long-term financial planning relates to strategic planning, financial policy development, capital improvement planning, and budgeting, but it is inherently different, as our 10 steps show.

• Publication date: April 2022