Top 10 to-dos for staying true to your capital plan

Have you ever come to year’s end and rushed to increase your capital spend in the fourth quarter? Or gotten lost in cumbersome spreadsheets when trying to manage your capital plan? Maybe you’ve come in under budget and all you can see are the missed investments for long-term growth and profitability?

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you’ve met the capital monster: a problem that arises when capital isn’t well-managed. If that’s the case, you may be unintentionally inhibiting your business goals and missing growth opportunities.

The good news: You can master your capital plan with this checklist – divided in three sections addressing your common painpoints of process, central oversight, and technology.

Develop a holistic, objective, and consistent process

1. Remain fluid and take a long-term view.
2. Align your plan to broader business strategy.
3. Provide a comprehensive audit trail.
4. Work with vendors knowledgeable about capital program management.

Define and empower centralized oversight

1. Define a central group or program management office to drive governance, communication, and a transparent process.
2. Ensure your team has deep capabilities in projects, real estate, finance, corporate strategy, and analytics.
3. Remember this is not a one-size-fits-all strategy.

Take advantage of technology

1. Integrate data across the capital project life cycle.
2. Leverage best-in-class platforms to systematically collect and disseminate relevant data.
3. Invest in tools that can improve project prioritization and selection.

JLL insights for process

JLL’s Capital Planning practice shows consistently that the best companies succeed by looking beyond the current calendar and financial year. A dedicated capital planning practice helps companies determine customized, relevant plans tied to broader strategy, not arbitrary dates.

It also helps when that strategy drives planning and execution. Experts also ensure your capital plan isn’t narrowed to a project or facility-level focus, a common pitfall. Guaranteed expertise from the get-go also means you can ramp up internal capabilities quickly.

JLL insights for oversight

Organizations generate the most benefit from their capital plan when executives and delivery teams are strategically aligned. A dedicated capital planning team often provides companies with the perspective needed for coordinating disparate teams and information across the life cycle of capital planning.

The single most important factor for the efficiency and effectiveness of capital planning is having the right expertise and a single point of contact for management oversight. And this role or team needs to be expertly tailored to your company’s unique needs, culture, and demands.

JLL insights for technology

Ideally your technology platform is the foundation of a program that includes construction management, project management, and capital planning. Having the right platforms is crucial to facilitate the analysis required to evaluate projects objectively and with historical information about past projects for reference.

Additionally, it implements algorithms to prioritize your capital spend effectively.

Choose from a range of solutions to improve your capital planning

There are a range of solutions to address and improve your capital planning. JLL empowers the world’s best companies to implement customized processes, plan management, and our latest technology platforms. As a result, our clients master their capital monsters and manage their capital spend within 2 percent to plan.