Imagine if you could predict the winning Lotto numbers before the draw. What would that mean? It would mean spending $10 on a ticket knowing that it will bring millions of dollars in return - not bad for such a little investment! How nice would that be?

Now imagine you’re a farmer and you could predict the financial state of your business - three, six, 12 or 24 months in advance. Imagine how much power and confidence you would have knowing this well in advance.

Yes, Lotto and farming are two different things - an obvious distinction is the hard work involved with farming compared to playing a game of chance. Nevertheless, I am sure the intended outcome is pretty much the same for everyone involved - winning. People want to win and succeed in everything they invest their time, money and hard work into. Having worked on a dairy farm and a frequent Lotto player myself, I can divulge the similarities.

Put aside Lotto, let's focus on farming - how do you win or succeed? For a start, obviously, it is important to be knowledgeable in the chosen area of farming. Secondly, you need to be financially competent so you can make sound financial decisions. Most people would argue that the latter is more important. I believe both are equally as important as each other. Volatility in the dairy industry or agriculture in general, unfavourable weather conditions as well as other adverse conditions all affect your bottom line and require an individual who is astute.

In terms of being financially savvy, this is where Figured comes in. Figured is a farm financial management solution that helps you farm on the front foot. It gives farmers and their farming team the information they need to make immediate and future-focused farming decisions. In Figured you can create a budget at the start of the financial year, lock it in and track any changes in real-time.

Reports can be created and shared with the rest of the farming team at the click of a button meaning everyone is kept in the loop on the state of the business. There’s no second guessing as to how the year will end. Furthermore, an important feature coming up in the pipeline aims to help farmers succeed even more. The new tool will allow users to create different budget scenarios depending on the input of the user, for example, a user could create a “best” and “worst” case budget scenario. If the year is better than expected, then it’s a bonus and if not, then the farmer is better prepared.

It’s important to know whether the business will make a profit, break-even or even make a loss well in advance. This will allow for the correct measures to be taken, e.g. increase production, cut costs or even apply for a short-term loan. Farming is big business and the costs of owning and running one are substantial. Having the right tools to help run and make decisions can be the difference between success and failure. With other great features to be released in the Figured product, this is just the beginning of many awesome things to come, watch this space. Happy new year and happy farming!

Want to get farming on the front foot this year?