Strategic financial planning of universities: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Financial stability of higher education institutions (HEIs) is achieved through the formation of a positive financial space by balancing income and expenditure. The dependence of universities on the contingent and budget funding allocated for the current year does not create the preconditions for long-term planning. However, the new paradigm of university functioning, transformation processes in HEIs, the crisis caused by Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine require a rethinking of approaches to financial planning. These processes will negatively affect budget funding, universities are forced to find other sources of funding to ensure financial stability and strategic directions of development. University management must respond quickly to challenges and implement effective financial management aimed at ensuring the financial stability of HEIs in both the current and strategic period, which determines the relevance of the chosen topic. The aim of the article is to identify challenges and opportunities for strategic funding for university planning. The research used such methods as analysis and synthesis to identify and systematize the challenges and opportunities of universities in the implementation of strategic planning; hypothesis for determining the impact of financial planning on the achievement of university strategy; a systematic approach to summarize the results of the study. The article identifies the challenges and opportunities of strategic financial planning of universities, content-filled periods of strategic financial planning in conditions of uncertainty.