Introduction:
A budget is a projection/estimation of the financial requirements and burdens that an individual/business drafts to understand their spending and financial boundaries. A budget generally outlines the situation a person will be in financially and can be created using estimates of future incomes and expenses.
Question 1:
What financial tools described in this chapter can help you make better financial decisions?
Answer -
i. Budgets ii. Financial Statements iii. Time Value of Money iv. Macro and microeconomic indicators
Question 2:
What are the components of a comprehensive budget and what is the purpose of each component?
Answer –
The major components of a comprehensive budget are:
I. Projected Income statement:
A projected income statement will display the expected revenues and
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Cash budget:
A cash budget will project the amount of cash you will have at any given time during a certain period. This will project surpluses and deficits in the cash budget which will be the used to identify opportunities for investment or financing.
III. Projected Balance Sheet:
A projected balance sheet will shows the projected assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity at the end of a given period. The inputs that are required to build a projected balance sheet are the balance sheet, profit plan, capital expenditure budget, cash budget, and the investment and financing plan of a business for that particular period.
IV. Projected sources and uses of funds statement:
Projected sources and uses of funds statement will give the business an understanding of the sources of funds. This will allow them to plan the uses of funds in the this particular period. To prepare a use of funds statement a business will require the initial balance sheet, projected balance sheet, and the projected income statement for that particular period.
Question 3:
How are specialized budgets prepared? What is the relationship of specialized budgets to the comprehensive
There are different types of budgeting that businesses typically use and those include Operating budgets, Capital Budgets and there are many subtypes that exist because a budget can also be created for special events, the recruitment and retention of new staff, and to manage the advertising expenses and return on investments for a business (Demand Media, 1999-2012). According to Demand Media (1999-2012), "An operating budget outlines the total operating expenses and income for the organization, typically for the period of a fiscal year. Capital budgets evaluate the investments and assets of the business, and a cash budget shows the predicted cash flow in and out of the business over a period of time” (para.2 ). According to the Cost-Benefit Analysis (2012), “Capital budgeting has at its core the tool of cost-benefit analysis; it merely extends the basic form into a multi-period analysis, with consideration of the time value of money. In this context, a new product, venture, or investment is evaluated on a start-to-finish basis, with care taken to capture all the impacts on the company, both cost and benefits. When these inputs and outputs are quantified by year, they can then be discounted to present value to determine the net present value of the opportunity at the time of the decision” ("Cost-Benefit Analysis," 2012).
For example interest rates, the cost of raw materials including fuel, the number of sales or orders that we make and in turn all of these rely on other factors. The best therefore that can be done when developing a budget is to look at all the factors that are likely to affect the budget and decide how to take account of each one. If there is a previous budget (last year or last month) then it is sensible to look at how this has been achieved or not as the case may be, and what factors affected the outcome. If we are looking at monthly budgets it might be a better comparison to look at the same month twelve months ago as well as the previous months. The more factors we take into consideration when estimating a budget, the more accurate our budget will be.
There are many uses of a budget that are used in within a business. The term budget means a financial plan. There are many types of budgets that a business would use, for example, a business would have one budget for production of a product and another budget for marketing. The uses of a budget help to control expenses and for the company to monitor what the budget is being spent on. If there is a set budget price being given this allows the business to be able to plan with how they are going to use the budget, by doing this they will be able to keep within the budget.
3. Explain two methods that can be used in order to identify realistic estimations when developing a budget. [2.2]
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
Budget is a planned outcome of the future - defined by your plan that your business wants to achieve.
The budget is a plan of how to spend available funds wisely, and entails a list of all expected revenues and expenses. The budget is compiled annually and marks the beginning and end of the fiscal year. While the primary burden of the budget lies with the finance department, it is the responsibility of all faculty affected by budgetary practices to provide insight into the projected financial future of the school. The goal and evidence of a successful budget is to have the actual numbers of the financial year equal or come close to the estimated
This establishes the total targets of five budget key areas: authority, outlays, revenues, surplus or deficit, and public debt. The resolution also sets a budget authority and outlay targets of each of the 21 spending categories. Finally, the committee prepares guidelines in the annual budget resolution for cutting programs to meet spending targets. A few other key responsibilities that the HBC may receive is to sometimes include reconciliation instructions that instruct committees to develop legislation that will change current revenue or direct spending laws to conform with policies established in the budget resolution, and to make summary budget scorekeeping reports in order to measure the budgetary effects of pending and enacted legislation against the levels recommended in the budget resolution.
The budgeted income statement, cash flows, and balance sheet follow in order. The income budget relies on the revenue and expense forecast from the operating budget, while the budget cash flows are planned for financial and investment activities. A final component of the budget process, the projected balance statement, can be used to tie in all the budgeting dependencies. Once a budget has been prepared, evaluation can be expected before approval. Budgetary components may require several iterations before finalizing the organizational budget.
Budget is a comprehensive business plan for procuring and appropriating a firm’s financial resources over a specified time period.
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 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.
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).
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.
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