Budget Framework and Process

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Budget framework and process refer to a set of rules, procedures, and guidelines that are used to develop, implement, and monitor a budget in public administration. It includes various components such as revenue forecasting, expenditure control, performance management, and reporting.

Budgeting and Public Administration: A comprehensive introduction to budgeting in public administration, including the purpose of budgeting, the various types of budgets, and the budgeting process.
Budget Cycle: Understanding of the budget cycle, which takes into account the establishment, approval, execution, and control of budgets and budget execution, with specific characteristics and phases for each.
Budget Planning: The preparation and drafting of a budget within a specific timeframe, including the process of determining revenue and expenditures, as well as long-term financial forecasting and analysis.
Budget Implementation: The process of putting the budget into action, including the allocation of resources, and monitoring and reporting progress and outcomes.
Performance-Based Budgeting: An approach to budgeting that uses performance measures to inform budget decisions, including the use of analysis tools and data to determine budget allocation.
Participatory Budgeting: A budgeting process that involves citizens and stakeholders, including community groups, in budget decision-making, including the allocation of public funding.
Zero-Based Budgeting: A budgeting approach that requires justification for every item in the budget, rather than relying on past budget allocations or incremental increases.
Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability: The principles of fiscal responsibility and accountability in budgeting, including transparency, accuracy, and ethical use of taxpayer funds.
Budget Oversight and Evaluation: The process of reviewing budget performance, tracking expenditures, and evaluating outcomes to identify areas for improvement, including budget adjustments based on actual performance data.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: A structured approach to decision-making that calculates the costs and benefits of a project or program, including monetary and non-monetary impacts.
Budget and Policy Alignment: The process of aligning budgetary resources with policy priorities, ensuring that budget decisions support overall policy goals.
Intergovernmental Relations: The relationships among different levels of government in budgeting, including the coordination of budget plans and decisions across local, state, and federal levels.
Budgetary Reporting and Disclosure: The process of reporting budget data and financial information to stakeholders, including citizens, taxpayers, and government officials.
Budgetary Constraints and Trade-Offs: The allocation of limited financial resources to competing priorities, including the political and economic factors that impact budget decision-making.
Budgetary Reform and Modernization: The ongoing process of updating and improving budgeting practices and procedures to better respond to changing economic and political environments, new technologies, and emerging policy areas.
Traditional Budgeting: This is the most common method of budgeting, where the previous year's budget is adjusted for inflation and new programs. It focuses on cost control rather than efficiency.
Zero-Based Budgeting: This method of budgeting starts from scratch every year, and every program must justify its expenses. It helps organizations identify waste and inefficiency, but it can be time-consuming.
Performance-Based Budgeting: This method of budgeting links funding to measurable results, such as outputs, outcomes, or goals. It incentivizes efficiency and effectiveness but requires clear performance measures.
Activity-Based Budgeting: This type of budgeting focuses on the costs of organizational activities, rather than programs or departments. It encourages efficiency by analyzing the cost drivers of every activity in the organization.
Outcome-Based Budgeting: This method of budgeting starts with desired outcomes and works backward to allocate resources. It emphasizes transparency and accountability but can be challenging to measure outcomes.
Priority-Based Budgeting: This approach prioritizes programs based on their relative importance to the organization's goals. It focuses resources on the most critical areas but requires clear prioritization criteria.
Participatory Budgeting: This approach involves citizens in the budgeting process, allowing them to recommend and vote on spending priorities. It increases citizen engagement and trust but can be time-consuming and complicated.
Program Budgeting: This method of budgeting organizes expenses into programs, rather than departments or functions. It helps to clarify the purpose and goals of each program but can be complicated to set up.
Multi-Year Budgeting: This approach creates a multi-year budget plan, enabling organizations to plan for the longer term. It requires accurate forecasting and flexibility to adjust the plan as needed.
Rolling Budgeting: This method of budgeting involves updating the budget monthly or quarterly to reflect changing circumstances. It allows organizations to adapt quickly to changing situations but requires ongoing attention and monitoring.
"A budget process refers to the process by which governments create and approve a budget."
"The Financial Service Department prepares worksheets to assist the department head in preparation of department budget estimates."
"The Administrator calls a meeting of managers and they present and discuss plans for the following year's projected level of activity."
"The managers can work with the Financial Services or work alone to prepare an estimate for the department's coming year."
"The completed budgets are presented by the managers to their Executive Officers for review and approval."
"Justification of the budget request may be required in writing."
"Adjustments to the budget submission may be required as a result of this phase in the process."
"Budgeting is the setting of expenditure levels for each of an organization's functions."
"It is the estimation and allocation of available capital used to achieve the designated targets of a firm."