Are the government officials good stewards of public funds?

The budget process is a powerful planning tool for government to make important resource decisions. According the Carney and Schoenfeld‘s article on How to read a Budget, an operating budget is a reflection of government’s financial plans. When a budget is

Budgeting is perhaps the most essential process involved in the United States government. While this process seems to exist only in the background, it is, in reality, what allows all other processes of government to function as they do. In order to satisfy the most necessities of modern society, changes must be made to each of the three major categories of the budget: the big five, the middle five, and the little guys.

Proper checks and balances should be in place for all preparing or handling the budget, as well as appropriate reporting and authorization mechanism (M.U.S.E., 2013).

Budget preparation is a process with designated groups and individuals having defined responsibilities. According to Irene S. Rubin “ The public budget process mediates between organizations and individuals who want different things and determines who gets what out of the budget.”1The Government set up an annual budget that includes people perspectives, opinions , accountability and than determine how the budget will get divided based on protected interests. Moreover, Public budgeting determines how government spend money, provide necessary resources , and limit government expenditures to prevent overspending.

125). Preparation, approval and implementation are the main steps in the development of public budgets. First the preparation must be begin with the issuance of instructions from the executives, followed by the development of department budgets by the department managers. Once all departmental budgets are completed, they are sent to the central budget office for final review and revision before being sent to the elected officials for approval. Approval is issued by the elected officials after any necessary deliberations take place. Once approved by the elected officials, the budget is considered law and must be followed. The next step is implementation. The budget is constantly implemented as funds are released over the course of the year, reviewed for appropriate use and to verify the budget is in line with projections. Finally the budget must be reviewed at the end of the year by the budget office. A comparison is made between actual figures and budgeted figures. The information gathered in this final step is used in helping to determine future budgets (Bartle, Hildreth, & Marlowe, 2013). There are two major challenges to balancing public budgets. The many actors (e.g. CEO, CFO, department heads, staff, etc.) involved in the development of a public budget and span many departments, and many units in one department making the meeting and negotiating process difficult. Due to the many constraints of policy and the law, the budget process can be long and arduous with four steps stretched into many. These are a few of the many challenges involved in developing a balanced public

\Governments undertake budgeting as one of the crucial activities with a budget comprising of a plan regarding financial operations that comprise of estimated revenues for financing estimated expenditures within a given period (Florida Finance Officers Association, 2011). Effective budget processes require involvement of all stakeholders so as to enhance in arriving at a budget that is well planned as well as communicated to the respective stakeholders.

consequences of capital requests were taken into consideration, the financial data presented by the departments is

Budgeting is the systematic method of allocating financial, physical, and human resources to achieve an organization’s strategic goals. Budgets are utilized by for-profit and non-profit organizations to monitor the progress towards the goals, assist in the control of spending, and help predict cash flow for the organization.

Budget is the major financial and economic statement. The role of the budget is to keep track of the money coming in and the money going out. It is essential part of running any business effectively. It can help make a short and long term projections about financial situation, avert a financial crisis and plan for major financial changes.

Budgeting is crucial in the well-being of a company especially the financial health status of a company. In fact, no professionally managed firm would fail to budget, since the budget establishes what is authorized, how to plan for purchasing contracts and hiring, and indicates how much financing is needed to support planned activity. It is routine for a company to budget for its expenses. Expense budgets act as a guideline of how much revenue a company would require keeping the activities running. It is used to set the company’s targets for a certain period.

“It’s clearly a budget. It’s got a lot of numbers in it” (George W. Busch 2005). This definition of a budget can be supplemented using the Oxford dictionary, which states that a budget is an estimate of income and expenditures for a set period of time. Nowadays almost every business uses budgets and managers use them as a tool in order to set targets. In other words managers can, with the use of budgets, explain in a financial way what are the

Budget is a comprehensive business plan for procuring and appropriating a firm’s financial resources over a specified time period.

A budget is a financial statement which is an estimate of income and expenditure of a set period of time, which may include planned revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities and

Budget and budgetary control practices are undeniably indispensable as organizations routinely go about their business activities and operations. These organizations are constantly on the alert on how actual levels of performance agree with planned or budgeted performance. A budget expresses a plan in monetary terms. It is prepared and approved prior to a particular budgeted period and explicitly may show the income, expenditure and the capital to be employed by organizations in achieving their goals and objectives.

Budgetary cycle in Malaysia, consist of four stages which are planning, budget preparation, budget implementation and budget evaluation. In first stage, government organisations are accountable in planning the budget target. Also, they require planning activities and programs for following year with efficiency. Second stage, budget is prepared and approved. Third stage, after Parliament has been approved the budget; a General Allocation Warrant to the Accountant General’s office will issue by the Finance Minister. It is as an authority for Accountant General’s office to expend the consolidated funds required for the expenditure. Government organisations are accountable to keep all accounting records in a vote book; so that, the allocation gets control and the expenditure occurred has been account. Fourth stage, the final of budgetary process cycle, Accountant General’s Department, Auditor General’s Department, Parliament and others will involve. According to the Federal Constitution Article 106 and 107, all public accounts have to be audited by the Auditor General’s Department and must be presented in Parliament. Thus, government organisations shall be update and present all information to the Auditor General with accurately and completely to ensure that there is no misuse of public fund. Auditor General will audit, examine and evaluate the financial performance of the government organisation’s