¶ … budget components (Policy Document, Financial Plan, Operating Plan, Communications Device), rank them in order of importance in your opinion and justify your rank order.
Rank 1: Policy Document: The Policy Document is synonymous with a Budget Document. The budget document can be a line item detailed listing of every expenditure for every department within the government operation. The document conveys the policies and procedures of the administration and outlines its funding.
The expenditure amount is a further clarification of the entity's commitment to their underlying cultural and operating practices which complement their specific organizational goals and organizational strategies. Organizational strategies in accordance to the Policy Document include the Strategic Planning Document which details how the organization will propel itself into the coming years as a strategic city seeking to attract the best and the brightest to start businesses and to be residents. As the underlying specific goals to the macro strategy, such documents include the long-range financial forecasts for revenues and expenditures in the operating funds.
Rank 2: Communications Device: According to Blocksidge (1995), "Ultimately, the budget document is a medium for communication. Within Allegheny's document, summary information in the operating and capital sections explains the budget planning process. And an overview of the local government, including its organization, the community, population and other background data, is present to assist the reader in understanding the county. According to the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), a successful budget document will serve as a policy document as well as an operations guide, a financial plan and a communications device." (Blockslidge, 1995) Additionally, the budget document is best conveyed to the constituency when uploaded onto an administrative website, such as local or county government websites under the financial documents link.
Rank 3: Financial Plan: The financial plans are a comprehensive set of documents and policies that outline and detail the administration plan for operations. Additionally, the financial plan contains the legal authority to which the government is able to conduct business each fiscal year. The financial plan also details how held assets will be used to benefit the constituency and in how assigned resources will enable expected outcomes via a projection of revenues and the expenditures that will generate those revenues. Additionally, the financial plan may be used as a means to advance agendas or policy initiatives, often see this to be true with the budget document. The budget is also a function within the financial documents, and as such has an impact on the importance of the financial documents in aggregate.
Rank 4: Operational Plan: According to Thomas (1984), "Operational Plan Framework (OPF), which is being used in the Canadian public sector, is an approach to management that emphasizes: 1. The unity of management activities and processes, 2. Primacy of departmental management needs, 3. Positive consultation between departments and central agencies. An OPF contains 6 separate, but interdependent components: 1. Planning elements 2. Results statements, 3. Organizational arrangements, 4, resourcing formulae, 5. Reporting arrangements, and 6. Program evaluation arrangements. OPF has generally been favorably received. When properly developed, OPF can produce smoother running departments by: 1. Resolving problems, 2. Establishing better direction, and 3. Boosting confidence that managerial accountability has increased." (Thomas, 1984) The operational plan inherently is a function of the previous plans. Therefore, without the prior three documents, the operational plan is without traction and has no basis in reality. In addition, without a budget and taxpayers to support the budget, the operational plan will likely fall short of its ambitions and cause the constituency to force a referendum.
2. What were the three basic forms of municipal budgeting by the end of the 1890s and describe in detail the five basic budgeting formats that evolved from budget reform in the United States and your opinion of the strengths and weaknesses of each.
The end of the 19th century marked the period of where the tax levy was the major generator of revenue for the government. According to Tyer & Willand (1997), "By the end of the 1890s there were three basic forms of municipal budgeting. Some cities simply used a tax levy, an approach disliked by reformers due to the lack of control through inattention to the expenditure side of budgeting, coupled with dominance by the city council. Another approach was a tax levy accompanied by detailed appropriations. Missing there, of course, were details regarding revenue estimates. Still others used a tax levy but preceded it with detailed estimates of receipts and expenditures, a practice which found favor with business and middle-class reformers. However, city councils were not legally bound to adhere to these estimates (Schiesl, 1977:89)." (Tyer, Willand, 1997)
Therefore, the three municipal revenue generators were all a function of...
Operating expenses include selling and administrative expense. Ordinarily, a forecast or budget for selling expenses is prepared together with the sales budget or profit target because selling efforts such as promotions, commissions and salaries of the sales staff are directly related to sales. Selling expenses may either be variable or fixed. Administrative expenses include projected administrative costs for other than production or selling activities. These expenses are mostly composed of
Financial reporting system is any system that compiles financial data and presents it to management in a meaningful format. There are different types of such systems, depending on the system's purpose. So a company can have a one system to assist with financial accounting, and another that delivers managerial accounting outputs. A system that delivers financial statements needs to use generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), so there is little choice
There are minor differences in prices, quality, and features of these products. Therefore, consumers can choose those products that best match their current needs. In the new market, Technosoft will need to strive hard for building a strong customer base by producing and promoting innovative technology solutions. v. The Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers is strong against new and small scale software manufacturers while very low against
Finance Financial Management in Non-Profit Organizations Financial management of not-for-profits is comparable to financial management in the commercial sector in a lot of respects; but, certain key variations shift the focus of a not-for-profit financial manager. A for-profit company focuses on prosperity and capitalizing on shareholder value. A not-for-profit organization's main goal is not to augment shareholder value; rather it is to offer some socially attractive need on a continuing basis. Budgeting
Once the report is analyzed, we have a sense of how the SWOT will shape up. However, this must be supplemented with sources that have less bias. For a company analysis, this tends to be the financial news, of which there are dozens of quality sources. Academic research seldom provides sufficient or timely insight into a company's operations, but may have value for broad-based issues. The insurance industry, for example,
yearly budget is an integral step in the administration of the criminal justice system in the United States. The budget is the source of funding for all programs and agencies administered through the Justice Department and the success or failure of such programs is dependent upon the budgetary process. This paper will assess how public policy affects the budgetary process and how each the Executive and Legislative branches of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now