Beyond the Annual Budget: Building a Performance Planning Rhythm in Credit Unions

Online Webinar: March 18^th | 1 PM EST

Why is this relevant right now?

Credit unions are being asked to do more with less while navigating uncertainty. In that environment, the winners aren’t the ones with the most detailed spreadsheets, they’re the ones who can align quickly, forecast intelligently, and act decisively. This session shows how finance can become the engine of that alignment.

What attendees will take away

You’ll leave with a clear framework and concrete best practices you can apply immediately, including how to:

Build an integrated planning rhythm that connects strategy, budget, forecast, and execution (instead of treating them as separate processes)
Strengthen variance analysis so it goes beyond “what happened” and answers “why” and “what to do next” (including drill-down into operational detail)
Use forecasting and scenario planning to recalibrate plans throughout the year—capturing opportunities and responding early to threats
Assess plan risk by running strategic plans through market scenarios to understand impacts to margin, liquidity, profitability, and resource needs
Drive aligned execution across teams by tailoring performance data and accountability to individuals and functions (financial + operational + statistical + profitability views)
Unlock value with member/customer segmentation to retain high-value relationships, expand wallet share, and address value erosion
Modernize two high-impact planning areas that often get treated as “just expenses”:

Personnel & payroll planning (headcount, hires, transfers, departures, compensation changes, cost analysis)
Capex & project-based planning (making initiatives measurable, funded, and accountable)

Who should attend

Ideal for CFOs, FP&A leaders, finance managers, controllers, strategy leaders, and operational leaders who want planning to drive execution—not just produce reports. If your budget cycle feels like compliance, takes too long, or doesn’t translate into day-to-day decisions, this session is for you.

Bottom line

The goal isn’t a perfect plan. It’s a repeatable system that keeps the credit union aligned, makes tradeoffs clearer, and turns finance into the function that drives measurable performance—month after month, not just budget season.

Annual budgeting can’t keep up with today’s credit union reality—rate volatility, deposit pressure, staffing constraints, and rapidly shifting member expectations. When the plan takes weeks to build and becomes outdated before it’s approved, the budget turns into a document you explain…not a tool you use.

Beyond the Annual Budget: Building a Performance Planning Rhythm in Credit Unions is designed to help finance teams modernize planning into an operating rhythm that drives execution all year long. You’ll learn how high-performing finance organizations act as the credit union’s GPS and steering wheel—connecting strategy, budgeting, forecasting, and performance management so leaders can make faster decisions, align teams, and course-correct before small issues become big outcomes.

This session reframes planning as a performance system. We’ll explore how finance leads the “performance story” in three critical roles:

Navigator (planning): setting targets, allocating resources, and defining what winning looks like
Interpreter (analysis): explaining what happened, what changed, and which levers matter
Translator (communication): turning complexity into clear direction for executives, boards, and operational leaders

The focus is practical: how to move from a static annual budget to a connected planning cadence that links financial results to operational drivers—so your teams aren’t just reporting performance, they’re actively improving it.

Produced and sponsored by: