Project Budget : Top Down Budgeting

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.

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).

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).

Staying on budget is one of the key factors that will play a significant role in ensuring the success and the completion of the project in a timely manner. In addition, budgeting will allow this project to develop a spending plan which will ensure that we do not exceed the $3,000 dollars allotted for the project. Furthermore, by having a budget plan in place, we are on the path to setting and meeting our financial goals.

Careful planning is required to guide all parts of the organization towards its strategic long-term and short-term objectives. Anthony & Govindarajan (2000) saw strategic planning as being focused on several years, contrasted to budgeting that focuses on a single year and so a budget is a one-year slice of the organization’s strategic plan. The budget prepared for planning purposes, as part of the strategic planning process, is the quantitative plan of management’s belief of what the business’s costs and revenues will be over a specific future period (Davies & Boczko, 2005). According to Atrill & McLaney (2002), a budget’s role is

The key to a successful project is in the planning. Creating a project plan is the first thing we should do when undertaking any kind of project. A project plan can allow a Project Manager to complete a project within a specified timeline and a specified budget.Reaching these important goals, will make the project customer happy and help the organization to build a good relationship with the customer for future projects. Project planning is fundamental in order to avoid failure and disappointment. In project management, effective planning is absolutely required if the individual or group wishes to deliver a finished project on time and on budget. From a Project Management article (http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/40904.aspx) I read that during the project planning phase, plans are developed in the form of project baselines for schedule, cost, scope, quality and risks, all of which are components of the overall project plan. This gives the Project Manager basis for monitoring project progress and upon which to base decisions necessary for managing changes needed to help get the project back on track.

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. As the project evolves, additional information is discovered and further estimates are produced. This is an extremely important process and we cannot emphasize enough the need for this re‐estimation or re‐budgeting process at each phase of the project. In any case, for the purpose of this article, we will call the revised budget the "actual budget." Another standard activity is to provide management with an expected cash flow. From a financial perspective this is an important activity, but it also can be used as your cost expectation.

Eichenberger, J. (1998). Project management, part III budgets for projects. AAOHN Journal, 46(5), 268-70. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/101346

The budget project helped me mainly to budget my money, and to help me get a job, that pays good money in the future. I want a good paying job so I can help my family with what they need. That’s the budget project helps me. It also helps me with my money and my finances. I really like this project.

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.

A budget, as defined by Hilton (2009 pg 348), is a detailed plan, expressed in quantitative terms that specifies how resources will be acquired and used during a specific period of time. A budget is a financial document utilized to project future income and expenses. A budget is based on how much you make in income and what your monthly expenses are. Budgets evaluate performances while the plan is what is going to happen or refine what you want to accomplish by thinking ahead. The purpose of having a budget is it improves efficiency, assigns responsibility, provides direction, and helps businesses plans and control finances. Managers use the budget as a

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.

According to an accounting textbook, cost is defined as a resource sacrificed or foregone to achieve a specific objective. It is something given up in exchange. It is necessary for project managers to understand project cost management since project costs money and consumes resources.