Budgeting is the establishment of budgets and the continuous comparison of actual to budgeted results either to secure the aims of the policy or provide a basis for revision (CIMA, 2000). (Peter Atrill & Eddie Mclaney, 2002) Stated that, it is very vital to recognise that budgets do not exist in a vacuum, they are an integral part of a planning framework that is adopted by well-run businesses. The role of the budget system is to answer the needs of management in respect of the discernment and decisions it is required to work and to provide a foundation for management functions for planning and control (Weetman, 2006). This essay will discuss the role and objectives of traditional budgeting and its problems. (Weetman, 2006) Assess that the …show more content…
o Planning and Control: The budgeting process ensures that managers do plan for future operation, and that they consider how condition in the next financial year might change and what contingency planning will be put in place in response to the changed conditions. (DRURY, 2008) Confirmed that, this may help management to anticipate problems before they arise and hasty decisions that are made based on expediency rather than reasoned judgement. (Weetman, 2006) Stated that, once a budget is put in place; implementation of the plan takes place and actual outcome maybe compared against the budget. Thus, receiving a budget as a basis for comparison allows firms and departments to identify the expectations which need care and allows corrective actions to be conducted in order to resolve existing and future problems (Weetman, 2006).
OBJECTIVES OF BUDGETING o Predict Cash flow: Budgeting is important in the assessment of performance of an establishment. Some system has difficulty occasionally when estimating how much cash they are likely have in the near term, which can result in periodic cash- related crises (Bragg, 2010). Therefore, it is very useful for predicting cash flows, but yields increasely unreliable results further into the future. (Mike Bendrey ,
Budget management analysis is used by mangers as a tool and helps determine that all resources available are being used efficiently. The budgets are determined yearly and are based upon the previous year’s budget and variances. This paper will discuss specific strategies to manage budgets within forecast, compare five to seven expense results with budget expectations, describe possible reasons for variances, give strategies to keep results aligned with expectations, recommend three benchmarking techniques, and identify those that might improve budget accuracy, and justify the choices made.
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
This research paper is a brief discussion of budget management analysis. Budgeting is the key to financial management, and is the key to translates an organization goals or plan into money. Budgeting is a rough estimate of how much a company will need to get their work done, and provides the basis for evaluating performance, a source of motivation, coordinating business activities, a tool for management communication and instructions to employees. Without a budget an organization would be like a driver, driving blinded without instructions or any sense of direction, that’s how important a budget is to every organization and individual likewise (Clark, 2005).
Budgeting systems turn managers’ perspectives forward and by looking to the future and planning, managers are able to anticipate and correct potential problems before they arise (Horngren, Foster & Datar, 2000). Through budgeting, management can plan ahead and maintain enough cash to pay creditors, to have adequate raw materials to meet production requirements, and to have sufficient finished goods to meet expected sales (Kieso, 2002).
A budget is an instrument used to help managers ensure that the resources used effectively and proficiently toward the goals of an organization. A budget projection can be made on a yearly base depending on previous year or existing one. They can further be broken down quarterly or monthly depending on it use. Generating a budget is complex undertaking, and for a budget to be effective the organization ought to follow it strictly. However, no matter how closely a business follows their guidelines there will always be some form of variances. The organization should expect a few variances and be able to work these discrepancies in any budget
A company's budget serves as a guideline in planning and committing costs in order to meet tactical and strategic goals. Tactical goals such as providing budgetary costs for daily operations, and strategic objectives that include R&D, production, marketing, and distribution are all part of the budgeting process. Serving as a guideline rather than being set in stone, the budget is a snapshot of manager's "best thinking at the time it is prepared." (Marshall, 2003, p.496) The budget is a method in which to reign-in discretionary spending, and will likely show variances between what costs have been anticipated and what costs are actually incurred.
Budgets can aid planning, which gives a business direction. A budget takes the organisational plan (goal and objectives) and quantifies this into something real to aim for. Such forward planning aids anticipating future business
A budget is a financial document that contains a detailed plan in writing (usually in monetary form) expressing the expected financial implications of the various management strategies for attaining the organization’s primary goals and objectives in the coming financial period (Clowes, & Scriven, 2015). A budget is a very important tool for any given organization. By enabling the organization to create a spending plan for its finances, the budget ensures that the company will be able to meet all its important obligations. Given the importance of the budget, significant effort and
The central challenge that budget developers encounter is predicting what the future holds for the internal business and external factors. Reading the future is something that can never be done with perfect precision. The fast pace of technological change, the complexities of global competition and world events make developing effective budgets both more difficult and more important.
There are thousands of people who budgets on a daily basis. A budget is a financial plan of revenues, expenses, and future costs for a given period. It allow individuals to set goals for themselves, so they can achieve them. The budget process is important in public and private sectors because it coordinates the organization’s activities. Budgeting involves positive effects which influence our decisions on a range of activities.
In conclusion, every major company in the world uses budgeting and there is a good reason for that. It is an important component of financial success. Budgeting makes easier to achieve financial goals. It keeps track of all expenses and help to avoid crisis. It also helps companies to control their growth and provide them with realistic idea where business is going.
Most entities and organization create budgets as a guide for controlling its spending, prediction of profit, and it expenditure as they progress toward a set goal. Budget involves pulling resources together to achieve a specific goal. According to Gapenski (2006), budgeting is an offshoot in a planning process. A basic managerial accounting tool use in holding planning and control functions together is referred to as set of budgets (p. 255). One major setback manager or budget developer encounter is trying to design a future, a process that cannot be created with the precision just right. This article highlights some financial management
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.
The 20’s century saw the use of budget involve due to a change in the environment. Indeed the control of output used to be obtained by the dissemination of tasks and so traditional budgets were very much highlighted, with a significant top-down influence. As an example of the importance of budget in the 1970’s IBM had about 3,000 people involved in their budgetary process. During the same period, the oil crisis brought concerns about rising in costs and led to the introduction of zero-based budgeting (ZBB), which can lower cost by avoiding blanket increases or decreases to a prior period’s budget. The increase in business uncertainties was in discrepancy with the stifling effect of fixed plans, promoting the use of rolling budgets. The 1990’s saw the growing influence of shareholders and steered the focus on a budget that included a wider view of organisation results, answering the investment community for quarterly updates on results and expectations (Bill Ryan, 2005). Budgets then started being used as a communication tool between the financial community and the organisation, allowing the corporation to be integrated in the capital market. Moreover companies started using flexible budgets rather than static budgets as nowadays various levels of activities can be observed in most organisations. The use of flexible budgets then enables firms to be consistent with their new environment and the market.
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.