Making the
Numbers Strategizing for parking and transportation financial success in a university environment.
A
T TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, the transportation services team spends a great deal of time comparing notes with industry peers. Our colleagues often comment that we are successful because we have more resources than most. While this is true in some cases, those resources are the result of a sound, long-term financial strategy. This strategy played an important role in creating the success our program enjoys today. It ensured we would have available funds when needed to implement new processes, desired infrastructure, and technological innovations. Our hope is that readers will be able to incorporate some of our story into their own plans for success. Our financial strategy can be broken into three areas of effort: establishing financial credibility, using internal and external data to project and set rates accurately, and presenting our analysis and findings in logical, easy-to-understand formats for customers and leadership.
20  THE PARKING PROFESSIONAL | MARCH 2019 | PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
The Budget
Attaining financial credibility starts with one of the basics: an accurate budget. The larger the organization, the more complicated this can be. Behind-the-scenes processes must be detailed and every budgetary line item seriously examined. We use Excel to