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Considerations to take into account when preparing an operating budget

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:29 am
by jrinea.kter01
The objective of the operating budget is to facilitate the performance of the company's operations. To fulfill its purpose, it must take into account all the income and expenses necessary for the company to carry out its productive or commercial activity.
In this post we explain in detail what an operating budget is.
Learn the main considerations you should take into account when preparing an operating budget.
The operating budget is a planning and control tool widely used in companies by accountants, financial directors and managers.

It is ideal for making decisions djibouti email list based on the different scenarios that may arise. It also allows you to identify opportunities for improvement in certain expense items.

Can you imagine your company going full steam ahead and suddenly having to stop abruptly and not being able to continue growing because no staffing plan was made? Avoiding this type of contingency is what is sought by preparing an operating budget .

Start of marked textTWEET IT! Do you know what an operating budget is and how to carry it out? We'll tell you!End of marked text

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What is an operating budget?
The operating budget seeks to be a guide that facilitates the decisions of the different operational areas of a company, providing a short-term vision of its needs to meet its sales objectives.

In addition, it is very useful for communicating your company's objectives and allocating the necessary resources to achieve them.

An operating budget is usually drawn up annually and should be dynamic.

Since their purpose is primarily operational, accounting expenses must be divided into fixed and variable expenses, so that the company can determine the growth of its variable expenses , based on budgeted sales.

Main objectives of the operating budget
Among the main objectives of the operating budget, we can highlight the following:

Facilitate the company's response to changes in its environment.
Facilitate the company's response to changes within its internal environment.
Serve as a coherent and integrative decision-making pattern.
Facilitate the setting of long-term goals.
Assign priorities when allocating resources.
Facilitate business selection.
Set the objectives and resources necessary to achieve a competitive advantage.

Financial expenses may also be taken into account , as the company may need to finance the resources necessary to meet its sales objectives.

When preparing an operating budget, it is advisable to take into account the following considerations:

Starting point of the operating budget
Where can we start when preparing the operating budget? To prepare the budget, we can use past data as a basis and then propose possible future scenarios. In order for these scenarios to materialize, the necessary budget items must be allocated to them. The first step is to define the sales objectives and their associated variable costs.

Reflect on the future of business
The budget is an excellent tool for reflecting on the future of the business, defining objectives and the resources needed to achieve them. To do this, the business must be analyzed in depth, identifying the sources of income , the expenses associated with the different activities and the processes necessary for the development of the business activity.