From the JVA Office: 6 Keys to Club Financial Assessment and Management

It takes a lot of the same grit and determination as it does to train athletes to perform on the court as it does for Club Directors and Administrators to perform in a financial situation. Sometimes we can get caught up focusing so much on the kids, that the club financial management is an afterthought.

Here are 6 keys to assessing and managing  your club’s finances:

Align your finances with your club’s goals and vision

As club directors we naturally want to compete with our best competitors. However, it’s easy to fall into a hole of over-stretching yourself and over competing to the point that it doesn’t fit the goals and vision of your club. The backbone of financial stability is staying true to who you are, being realistic vs. competitive, and understanding your club’s constraints.

At the end of every season take some time to review your club, where you currently are and where you want to be. Create a roadmap of how to systematically put your club where you want to be. Understand your staff and what you’re capable of. How did you do, what to you need to change and what can you do going forward.

Approach the process with the right mindset

Whether your club has 140 teams, 70 teams or 8 teams, try to keep it as simple as possible. Financial management entails analyzing the past and managing the present. Evaluate your system of transactions (cash, credit cards, checks, the money coming in and out) and come up with an efficient and organized manner to record those in order to project your budget for the next 3-12 months. Preparing a budget can take as long as two to four weeks, and is not something that can be knocked out in 5 hours. Begin by breaking it into segments, and then go back and review the budget and make adjustments before finalizing.

Start small and then review and grow your data. If you’re a new club, getting the data for your budget will take some personal experience, ie: previous employment at another club or sports entity, or similar line of work, otherwise you can begin with an educated estimation. Take a team budget or tournament budget and work your way up. Understand and remember who you are, what you’re doing and what your goals are. How many teams are you fielding, what are the travel requirements and strategy, practice times, practice cost, coach salaries, etc., that can be plugged into a spreadsheet.

Create the Right Budgeting Team

Find the people in your club that know the key sections of your business and…