Financial planning specialist Centage offers a new model designed for healthcare organizations facing the complexity of managing nursing staff costs. Called Multi-Location Nurse Wage-Mix Worksheet, this tool is intended to help finance teams better measure the gap between budget assumptions and actual costs related to workforce composition.
In healthcare organizations operating across multiple sites, nursing payroll can change rapidly depending on the use of permanent nurses, traveling professionals or staffing agencies. Added to this are benefits, paid time off and various payroll-related charges. These parameters can make estimates based on overall averages less accurate.
A tool dedicated to wage-mix tracking
The model developed by Centage makes it possible to compare the workforce mix planned in the budget with the mix actually used. The aim is notably to identify the financial impact of changes in the distribution of different nursing profiles.
According to the example presented by the publisher, an organization may identify a gap of several hundred thousand dollars when the actual composition of its workforce differs from the initial assumptions. The model therefore provides an estimate of the financial impact by site and at the overall level.
A workforce planning-oriented approach
The workbook comprises five sections covering data configuration, position modeling, wage mix analysis, projections and interpretation of the results. It also makes it possible to test the effect of changes in the use of temporary or traveling nurses.
This approach thus brings budget planning closer to operational workforce management. Finance teams can gain a more detailed view of the factors likely to drive changes in their personnel expenses, rather than relying solely on average costs.
A use case for EPM
This initiative more broadly illustrates the evolution of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and EPM practices. Workforce planning is gradually becoming an important part of budgeting processes, particularly in sectors where labor costs represent a significant share of expenses.
With this model, Centage therefore focuses on a highly practical issue: bringing financial forecasts closer to workforce reality in order to anticipate budget variances more quickly.
source: Centage
