Budgets
In budget planning, public administrators need to outline expenditures related to operational and capital budgets. In public administration, operational budgets are defined as day-to-day expenditures of a government while capital budgets refer to long-term investments for an organization. When creating budgets, public administrators are faced with the need to determine priorities for capital and operational budgets because of limited funding. The determination of priorities for operational budgets and capital budgets are affected by some factors, which are applied in the budget cycle. Similarly, capital budgeting process is affected by some factors that are applied in each budget cycle.
The most important factors that can affect the development of priorities for operational budgets relate to the three objectives of public expenditure management. In this regard, fiscal discipline, operational efficiency, and strategic resource allocation are important factors that influence the decision making processes of public administrators on priorities for operational budgets. These factors play a critical role in determination of priorities since they are the premise for public expenditure management. Additionally, these factors shape the link between policy and budgeting for both the immediate and long-term future (World Bank, n.d.). In public administration, operational budgets are based on public expenditure management,...
In each budget cycle, public administrators examine these factors based on the existing societal needs. For example, public administrators make decisions on expenditures through considering the societal needs in relation to public expenditure management.
Capital budgets are affected by different factors since the objectives of capital budgets differ from those of operational budgets in public administration. The most important factors that affect capital budgeting include organizational competitive strategy, demand forecast, cash flow, fiscal policy, and type of management. The evaluation of demand for a long period of time must be carried out during decision making for capital budgets. An organization’s long-term investment decisions are influenced by its competitive strength and position. Cash flow statements help an organization to determine the most suitable time for making investments while fiscal policy shape such decisions through influencing the ease of doing business for the organization. The future expected or projected cash inflows and outflows are estimated before determining an organization’s long-term investments (Schönbohm & Zahn, 2012). For example, when an organization is considering long-term investments in a future project, the project cash inflows and outflows are examined prior to making decisions…
