budget paper writing help

budget paper writing help

Budget Paper Writing Help

1. Introduction

Overall, Carter’s dime and dollar legacy was substantial. It is most evident that there was a distinct change in the budgeting process, and since that time, American budgeting has increased in complexity and has become more in line with economic theory. Today, budgeting is closely integrated with the microeconomic theory of decision making and is very similar to decision-centered management. This is a far cry from prehistory, where randomly allocated resources were allocated to simply get the job done.

The rationale for why this topic has been chosen centers around the fact that budgeting is something that is important and present in the lives of every individual. Public budgeting affects everyone in society by influencing how resources are allocated and ultimately affects the public through the provision of services. Given that budgeting is something that is so important and prevalent, it is a topic that needs to be addressed and improved, as there are many problems and deficiencies with the present methods of budgeting. By learning from history and understanding how and why certain budgeting methods came about, it is possible for the future to have a more improved and effective budgeting process.

This paper intends to highlight the history of budgeting, how the budgeting process has advanced into a more modern process, and the effectiveness of a budget. The prehistoric budgeting period, previous to 1921, will be defined and highlighted as the primarily factors and events, which happened, and directed to more modern stages of the budgeting process. The significant events and factors will be defined to show how there were critical and logic steps taken to fund the budgeting process from prehistory to modern budgeting. The last topic will cover the multiple purposes for why a budget is vital in today’s society. Ultimately, when it comes to public budgeting in a political environment, the main reason it happens is because the resources are available and have to be used in the most efficient manner. But effective resource allocation is only one reason why budgeting is important, as there are many other reasons for creating a budget and many other forms of budgeting. The ultimate goal is to link all of these other facets of budgeting back to resource allocation.

2. Understanding the Importance of Budget Papers

Budget papers provide a clear picture of the economic, social, and political climate while the government of the day is in power. They reflect the government’s revenue-raising efforts, resource allocation plans, and financial and economic management policies. Budget papers are the principal tool the government uses to bring together its economic, political, and social policies in a comprehensive and systematic way. They provide details about the government’s policy objectives, the reasons for those objectives, and how they will be achieved, and the results the government hopes to achieve. This level of detail and the way it is brought together make the budget papers the most powerful and effective instrument governments have for accountability to the parliament and the community. It provides a focus for parliamentary consideration of the budget and its implications and a benchmark for assessing government performance. The accessibility of the information in Budget Paper One is aimed at making financial information understandable to the general public. However, the wide variety of readers means that it can sometimes be too detailed and complex for some and not detailed enough for others. This report is aimed at demystifying the complex economic and financial issues outlined in the budget papers, enabling easier understanding for a larger proportion of the population.

3. Tips for Writing Effective Budget Papers

More specifically, when writing the summary, it is a good idea to start with a draft, then set it aside for a day or two if you have the time. When you come back to the draft, you will have a ‘fresher’ mind and be less biased with the information. This will help you condense the report and select the most important information to put in the summary.

Include a summary at the beginning of the report. Call this section ‘Summary’ and write in past tense. Words like ‘would’ are useful here. Try to keep it to one page in length using 2-3 paragraphs. Summarize your objectives, methodology, findings, and conclusion. The summary is the most important part of the report because the majority of people will not have the time or be prepared to read the entire report. Knowing that, you should also highlight the key features of the report in the introduction.

4. Common Mistakes to Avoid in Budget Paper Writing

A related mistake is poor planning. This results in a budget that is incoherent and too general. It is important for each part of the budget to be linked to goals with specific strategies. For example, how will instructional improvement resources link to increased student learning, or what is being attempted by reallocating certain resources. What one should avoid is making a budget that is a mere assignment of numbers to the same existing resources. Any changes in resources should be a conscious strategy to achieve certain results and goals.

The common mistakes to avoid in budget paper writing are to have both unclear and unrealistic goals. This is the most common mistake and it distorts the budget and aligns resources in an inappropriate manner. A budget should be linked to the goals of the school. If you aren’t sure of what you are trying to accomplish with the budget, the budget will often fail. A budget should act as a clear map on how resources will be allocated in order to achieve certain results. However, if the goals are unclear, the resources will be scattered and there will not be a clear indicator of what will be achieved. Unrealistic goals tend to break the budget. Often, wanting to do more than you have the resources for will place a school in a worse situation than before the budget.

5. Conclusion

At the global level, budget and budgeting are considered to be of great importance. It is expected that executives considering a specific function, which may be in the original proposal stage or result from an ongoing activity. The process involves the translation of the specific function into financial terms and improved communication about how this function may be enhanced. It is also expected that better coordination will result due to the budget process. An example is planning an overseas sales effort…the chances of success are greater if costs are counted and compared with the results. Budgeting forces managers to examine the details, a step that should reveal whether the sales effort will pay its way. Budget also provides definitive expectations which can be used as a control reference. Without clear objectives, there is no way to measure performance. But if costs are translated into a detailed expense budget and anticipated revenues into an income statement, the financial result can be determined. Finally, budgeting provides a basis for performance evaluation and its essential link to bonus compensation. The progress of an individual’s activities, whether a marketing manager’s sales campaign or a plant maintenance supervisor’s safety program, can be evaluated by comparing budgeted and actual costs for his activities. His overall performance can be judged by the financial result compared with the relevant budgets. High performers can be rewarded and low performers can be identified for retraining or reassignment.