The Annual Budgeting Process

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The following report examines “The Annual Budgetary Process”. As noted in the question posed, the report will comprise of four main sections. Firstly, the objectives of budgeting will be identified and defined. This will be followed by analysis of both the strengths and the weaknesses of traditional budgetary practices. The penultimate section will attend to the behavioural aspects of budgeting. The final section of the report will consider the relationship between budgets and standard costing. 1. The Objectives of Budgeting Weetman (2003: 626) defines a budget as ‘a detailed plan which sets out, in money terms, the plans for income and expenditure in respect of a future period of time. It is prepared in advance of that time period and is based on the agreed objectives for that period of time, together with the strategy planned to achieve those objectives.’ Thus, in a nutshell, a budget is a detailed financial plan that organisations develop usually on an annual basis. The budget sets out the plans for the income and expenditure for the coming year and details on how agreed objectives will be achieved. Within any given organisation, the annual budgetary process will involve a master budget while separate functions will have their own budgets. Once an organisation has set its objectives, it then focuses on its strategy stage, and then to the preparation of budgets. When writing the annual budget, long term objectives are considered first. A critical factor which determines all other budgets is the sales forecast, that is, the amount of sales an organisation hopes to achieve in the coming year. The priority of most organisations is to generate sales to maximise profit. Each function then prepares its own budget. The detailed budgets for all functions are then brought together within the finance plan. This will form a budgeted profit & loss

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