From Spreadsheets to Strategic Decisions:
Murray River Council’s Financial Planning Journey
Results Snapshot
Client: Murray River Council
Location: Southern Riverina, New South Wales
Sector: Local Government
Solution: Long-Term Financial Plan & Capital Works Evaluator
- Faster scenario modelling supporting real-time financial decision-making
- Capital program affordability and prioritisation tested across multiple scenarios
- Reduced manual processing and greater confidence in financial data
- 10-year financial modelling rapidly updated to respond to emerging funding opportunities
Overview
Murray River Council sought to strengthen its approach to long-term financial planning and capital investment, moving beyond a highly manual process towards a more responsive and strategic approach to financial decision-making.
While Council had already made significant progress in building greater ownership and accountability around operational budgets, the next stage of its journey was to strengthen long-term financial planning and capital program management.
CT Management Group’s Long-Term Financial Plan (LTFP) and Capital Works Evaluator (CWE) provided Council with products to explore scenarios, test assumptions and better understand the long-term financial implications of capital and operational decisions.
The Challenge
Murray River Council’s previous long-term financial planning process relied heavily on manual spreadsheets, formulas and data updates.
When budget assumptions changed following Councillor workshops, community feedback or other emerging circumstances, significant rework could be required. Scenario and sensitivity analysis was also time-consuming, with changes needing to be manually reflected throughout the financial model.
As a result, the Long-Term Financial Plan was largely fulfilling a compliance requirement rather than operating as a dynamic decision-making tool.
Council wanted an approach that could respond more quickly to changing circumstances, support its financial sustainability objectives and enable the organisation to answer important “what if?” questions with greater confidence.
Our Solution
CT Management Group’s Long-Term Financial Plan and Capital Works Evaluator provided Murray River Council with an integrated approach to long-term financial and capital planning.
The solution enable Council to:
- Rapidly test different financial and capital scenarios and understand their long-term impacts.
- Assess the affordability and prioritisation of proposed capital projects.
- Model complex financial obligations and future funding requirements.
- Reduce reliance on manual spreadsheet maintenance and minimise the risk of formula and data errors.
- Explore changes to funding, borrowings, capital investment and other assumptions.
- Use financial information more strategically to support conversations with Councillors and other stakeholders.
Rather than taking ideas away from a workshop and spending days manually modelling their implications, Council can now explore scenarios much more quickly, helping maintain momentum in strategic conversations and support evidence-based decision-making. The implementation has also been a capability-building journey. As Council’s understanding and use of the products has matured, the focus has progressively shifted from establishing the model and meeting compliance requirements towards using the information to generate deeper insights and inform strategic decisions.
The Outcomes
The Long-Term Financial Plan and Capital Works Evaluator have helped Murray River Council transform long-term financial planning from a largely compliance-driven exercise into a more responsive decision-support process. Key outcomes include:
- Faster scenario modelling, allowing Council to explore the financial implications of different options while strategic discussions are taking place.
- Improved capital planning, with the affordability of the capital program tested under multiple scenarios and consideration given to ongoing operational and maintenance impacts.
- Greater confidence in financial data, with reduced manual handling helping minimise the risk of errors and the need for extensive cross-checking.
- More effective use of staff resources, allowing greater focus on analysis, insights and advice rather than maintaining complex spreadsheets.
- Improved responsiveness to emerging opportunities, with Council able to rapidly revise financial and capital assumptions when circumstances change.
- Stronger conversations around integration, supporting Council’s ongoing journey towards greater alignment between finance, assets, project management and long-term planning.
Using the Long-Term Financial Plan and Capital Works Evaluator, Council was able to complete a revised 10-year long-term financial plan and associated scenario modelling within approximately two weeks, helping position the organisation to respond to a funding opportunity within the required timeframe. For Murray River Council, the value extends beyond producing financial information. By spending less time building and maintaining spreadsheets, the finance team can spend more time exploring options, testing assumptions and turning financial data into meaningful insights that support better decisions for Council and its community.
Testimonials
“The real value comes from the insights and the advice – what you can actually get out of the numbers and the story that you tell to support it. By spending less time building and maintaining the Long-Term Financial Plan and capital program, we can spend more time exploring different options, testing assumptions and providing better information for decision-making.”
— Hannah Ensink, Murray River Council