At the beginning of the budget cycle, Budgeting Services publishes the guidelines that will help envelope managers with the creation and submission of the budget.

At McMaster, budgets are entered into the Hyperion Planning System.

For budget managers who are new to McMaster, please contact your Budgeting Services representative to obtain the appropriate security access to Hyperion Planning.

Budget managers are encouraged to attend one of several of the Hyperion training options offered during the Summer and the Fall.

These options include training for budget planners who are new to the system, refresher training, Hyperion Planning Reports, and Adjusted Budget training.

By reviewing year-end variances, budget planners can identify areas of improvement for the next period’s budget.

There are several variance reports that allow planners to view variances at multiple levels of detail.

The current year projections, next year’s budget, and outer year forecasts are entered in the Hyperion Planning system where the information is stored in a centralized database. This is the source of data for all budget submission reports.

The narrative report is integral to the budget process. It is in this narrative where envelope managers provide details of the envelope’s next four-year plan, current challenges and alignment to the University’s strategic plan. The narrative is reviewed by the Budget Committee in detail, in order to assign priorities and make  budget decisions.

The narrative report is completed by accessing the budget submission templates which are available for download every year.