Mastering Ag Advisory: Budgets, Scenarios and Succession Planning
Host: Dr. Christine Gervais
Speaker: Erin Arick, Senior Account Executive
Sponsored by: Figured
Topic: Mastering Ag Advisory: Budgets, Scenarios and Succession Planning
Reporting on what already happened is valuable. Helping a client plan what happens next is where an adviser becomes indispensable. This session closes the series by moving from actuals and analysis into forward-looking planning — budgets, scenarios, and the kind of guidance farm clients are already trying to figure out on their own, usually without their accountant in the room.
We'll cover two practical entry points into planning: building a full annual budget for clients ready for ongoing management-style forecasting, and using scenario tools for clients who aren't ready for that but have a specific decision in front of them — succession, expansion, or a loan application. Farm financial projections come with real challenges: weather, commodity prices, input costs, and policy shifts that don't move in straight lines. We'll talk honestly about that, and about why an imperfect baseline projection is still far more useful to a client than no projection at all.
This session also covers how forward-looking planning connects directly to tax planning, turning a once-a-year tax conversation into a proactive, quarterly one — and how to structure and price a full advisory engagement that moves a client from compliance, through reporting, into planning.
Like the rest of the series, this session stands on its own. If you haven't attended Sessions 1 or 2, you'll still walk away with a practical framework for forward-looking advisory conversations with farm clients.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the difference between actuals reporting (Sessions 1–2) and forward-looking advisory
- Know how to build a simple annual budget in Figured and what reports it unlocks
- Use the Figured Scenarios tool for succession planning and loan conversations — even with minimal data
- Integrate tax planning into farm financial forecasts
- Structure and price a full advisory engagement from compliance through planning
Cost: Free
CPE Credits: 1
Subject Area: Specialized Knowledge
Course Level: Basic
Instructional Method: Group Internet Based
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None
Who Should Attend: CPA, Bookkeeper, Accountant, Enrolled Agents, Tax Preparer