Strengthening Financial Planning Through Reliable Modelling and Informed Decision-Making
Results Snapshot
Client: Bass Coast Shire Council
Location: Gippsland, Victoria
Sector: Local Government
Solution: Long-Term Financial Plan
- Reliable long-term financial modelling supporting 4-year and 10-year projections
- Central financial model supporting Council’s annual budget process
- Enhanced scenario and funding analysis across reserves, borrowings and capital investment
- Clear ratio analysis and key metrics supporting communication with ELT and Councillors
Overview
Bass Coast Shire Council required a reliable long-term financial model that could support both its immediate budgeting requirements and longer-term financial planning.
While annual budgets remain an important focus for local government, Council recognised the need to look beyond year one and better understand its longer-term financial position, including emerging pressures, opportunities and future funding requirements.
CT Management Group’s Long-Term Financial Plan (LTFP) provides Bass Coast Shire Council with a central financial model capable of producing reliable projections and bringing complex, sector-specific financial information together in a practical and accessible format.
The model has become a fundamental part of Council’s annual budget process and a central source of financial information used to support planning and communication with ELT and Council.
The Challenge
Long-term financial planning in local government involves complexities that extend well beyond annual budgeting.
Bass Coast Shire Council needed a model capable of reflecting the nuances of the sector, including reserves, rates, borrowings, debt, capital works, lease liabilities and other long-term financial considerations. Importantly, Council needed confidence that the underlying model and data could support both shorter-term and longer-term projections while providing sufficient detail to explain and support the resulting financial metrics.
The challenge was therefore not simply to produce a Long-Term Financial Plan, but to establish a reliable and usable financial model that could help Council understand trends, identify pressure points and opportunities, test funding decisions and communicate its financial position with confidence.
Our Solution
CT Management Group’s Long-Term Financial Plan provides Bass Coast Shire Council with a comprehensive model that brings together the financial information and assumptions required to support long-term planning.
The solution enables Council to:
- Produce reliable financial projections across both shorter and longer-term planning horizons.
- Model the use of reserves and consider different approaches to funding major projects.
- Examine funding options including grants, borrowings, Council rates and available reserves.
- Understand the implications of capital works, new debt, borrowing terms, lease assets and lease liabilities.
- Incorporate sector-relevant variables including underlying growth assumptions and CPI.
- Use ratio analysis and key financial metrics to support decision-making and communication.
- Access the underlying data behind key metrics when further analysis or explanation is required.
The model also supports reconciliation with Council’s financial system, helping translate complex financial information into a more digestible and presentable format.
Its usability has enabled different members of the finance team to work with the model over time, supporting internal capability and providing Council with a consistent central point for its long-term financial considerations
The Outcomes
The Long-Term Financial Plan has become a central component of Bass Coast Shire Council’s financial planning and annual budget process.
Key outcomes include:
- Greater confidence in long-term projections, supported by a reliable model with accessible underlying data.
- Stronger funding analysis, enabling Council to consider how reserves, rates, grants and borrowings can support both immediate and longer-term priorities.
- Improved capital planning, with greater visibility of the relationship between capital works, debt and future funding requirements.
- Clearer financial reporting, using ratio analysis and key metrics to support communication with ELT and Councillors.
- Improved internal capability, with complex financial information presented in a more digestible format for the finance team.
- Streamlined financial modelling, supported by built-in controls that reduce the need for additional checking and provide greater confidence in the information being used.
For Bass Coast Shire Council, the Long-Term Financial Plan is more than a long-term forecasting model. It provides a central and reliable source of financial information that supports the annual budget process while enabling Council to consider the longer-term implications of decisions being made today. This gives Council greater confidence when considering future investment, funding and financial sustainability and provides a stronger evidence base for communicating financial decisions to Councillors and the community.
Testimonials
“The Long-Term Financial Plan provides us with a reliable central model for our financial planning and annual budget process. It allows us to capture complex financial information in a digestible format, understand our key financial metrics and confidently communicate those outcomes to ELT and Council.”
— Bass Coast Shire Council