So you came up with a great idea for a product. You started a company, and you are selling stuff so fast that you can barely keep up. No problem, right? However, without proper planning and budgeting, your success could be short-lived. In some cases, failure is actually brought on by rapid, uncontrolled growth.
One such example was online discount bookseller, www.Positively-You.com. One of the website's co-founders, Lyle Bowline, had never run a business. However, his experience as an assistant director of an entrepreneurial center had provided him with knowledge about the do's and don'ts of small business. To minimize costs, he started the company small and simple. He invested $5,000 in computer equipment and ran the business out of his basement. In the early months, even though sales were only about $2,000 a month, the company actually made a profit because it kept its costs low (a feat few other dot-coms could boast of).
Things changed dramatically when the company received national publicity in the financial press. Suddenly, the company's sales increased to $50,000 a month—fully 25 times the previous level. The “simple” little business suddenly needed a business plan, a strategic plan, and a budget. It needed to rent office space and to hire employees.
Initially, members of a local book club donated time to help meet the sudden demand. Some put in so much time that eventually the company hired them. Quickly, the number of paid employees ballooned. The sudden growth necessitated detailed planning and budgeting. The need for a proper budget was accentuated by the fact that the company's gross profit was only 16 cents on each dollar of goods sold. This meant that after paying for its inventory, the company had only 16 cents of every dollar to cover its remaining operating costs.
Unfortunately, the company never got things under control. Within a few months, sales had plummeted to $12,000 per month. At this level of sales, the company could not meet the mountain of monthly expenses that it had accumulated in trying to grow. Ironically, the company's sudden success, and the turmoil it created, appears to have been what eventually caused the company to fail.
Preview of Chapter 23
As the Feature Story about Positively-You.com indicates, budgeting is critical to financial well-being. As a student, you budget your study time and your money. Families budget income and expenses. Governmental agencies budget revenues and expenditures. Businesses use budgets in planning and controlling their operations.
Our primary focus in this chapter is budgeting—specifically, how budgeting is used as a planning tool by management. Through budgeting, it should be possible for management to maintain enough cash to pay creditors, to have sufficient raw materials to meet production requirements, and to have adequate finished goods to meet expected sales.
The content and organization of Chapter 23 are as follows.
One of management's major responsibilities is planning. As explained in Chapter 19, planning is the process of establishing company-wide objectives. A successful organization makes both long-term and short-term plans. These plans establish the objectives of the company and the proposed way of accomplishing them.
A budget is a formal written statement of management's plans for a specified future time period, expressed in financial terms. It represents the primary method of communicating agreed-upon objectives throughout the organization. Once adopted, a budget becomes an important basis for evaluating performance. It promotes efficiency and serves as a deterrent to waste and inefficiency. We consider the role of budgeting as a control device in Chapter 24.
Accounting information makes major contributions to the budgeting process. From the accounting records, companies can obtain historical data on revenues, costs, and expenses. These data are helpful in formulating future budget goals.
Normally, accountants have the responsibility for presenting management's budgeting goals in financial terms. In this role, they translate management's plans and communicate the budget to employees throughout the company. They prepare periodic budget reports that provide the basis for measuring performance and comparing actual results with planned objectives. The budget itself, and the administration of the budget, however, are entirely management responsibilities.
The primary benefits of budgeting are:
1. It requires all levels of management to plan ahead and to formalize goals on a recurring basis.
2. It provides definite objectives for evaluating performance at each level of responsibility.
3. It creates an early warning system for potential problems so that management can make changes before things get out of hand.
4. It facilitates the coordination of activities within the business. It does this by correlating the goals of each segment with overall company objectives. Thus, the company can integrate production and sales promotion with expected sales.
5. It results in greater management awareness of the entity's overall operations and the impact on operations of external factors, such as economic trends.
6. It motivates personnel throughout the organization to meet planned objectives.
A budget is an aid to management; it is not a substitute for management. A budget cannot operate or enforce itself. Companies can realize the benefits of budgeting only when managers carefully administer budgets.
Effective budgeting depends on a sound organizational structure. In such a structure, authority and responsibility for all phases of operations are clearly defined. Budgets based on research and analysis are more likely to result in realistic goals that will contribute to the growth and profitability of a company. And, the effectiveness of a budget program is directly related to its acceptance by all levels of management.
Once adopted, the budget is an important tool for evaluating performance. Managers should systematically and periodically review variations between actual and expected results to determine their cause(s). However, individuals should not be held responsible for variations that are beyond their control.
The budget period is not necessarily one year in length. A budget may be prepared for any period of time. Various factors influence the length of the budget period. These factors include the type of budget, the nature of the organization, the need for periodic appraisal, and prevailing business conditions.
The budget period should be long enough to provide an attainable goal under normal business conditions. Ideally, the time period should minimize the impact of seasonal or cyclical fluctuations. On the other hand, the budget period should not be so long that reliable estimates are impossible.
The most common budget period is one year. The annual budget, in turn, is often supplemented by monthly and quarterly budgets. Many companies use continuous 12-month budgets. These budgets drop the month just ended and add a future month. One advantage of continuous budgeting is that it keeps management planning a full year ahead.
ACCOUNTING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION
Businesses Often Feel Too Busy to Plan for the Future
A study by Willard & Shullman Group Ltd. found that fewer than 14% of businesses with less than 500 employees do an annual budget or have a written business plan. For many small businesses, the basic assumption is that, “As long as I sell as much as I can, and keep my employees paid, I'm doing OK.” A few small business owners even say that they see no need for budgeting and planning. Most small business owners, though, say that they understand that budgeting and planning are critical for survival and growth. But given the long hours that they already work addressing day-to-day challenges, they also say that they are “just too busy to plan for the future.”
Describe a situation in which a business “sells as much as it can” but cannot “keep its employees paid.” (See page 1120.)
The development of the budget for the coming year generally starts several months before the end of the current year. The budgeting process usually begins with the collection of data from each organizational unit of the company. Past performance is often the starting point from which future budget goals are formulated.
The budget is developed within the framework of a sales forecast. This forecast shows potential sales for the industry and the company's expected share of such sales. Sales forecasting involves a consideration of various factors: (1) general economic conditions, (2) industry trends, (3) market research studies, (4) anticipated advertising and promotion, (5) previous market share, (6) changes in prices, and (7) technological developments. The input of sales personnel and top management is essential to the sales forecast.
In small companies like Positively-You.com, the budgeting process is often informal. In larger companies, a budget committee has responsibility for coordinating the preparation of the budget. The committee ordinarily includes the president, treasurer, chief accountant (controller), and management personnel from each of the major areas of the company, such as sales, production, and research. The budget committee serves as a review board where managers can defend their budget goals and requests. Differences are reviewed, modified if necessary, and reconciled. The budget is then put in its final form by the budget committee, approved, and distributed.
A budget can have a significant impact on human behavior. If done well, it can inspire managers to higher levels of performance. However, if done poorly, budgets can discourage additional effort and pull down the morale of managers. Why do these diverse effects occur? The answer is found in how the budget is developed and administered.
In developing the budget, each level of management should be invited to participate. This “bottom-to-top” approach is referred to as participative budgeting. One advantage of participative budgeting is that lower-level managers have more detailed knowledge of their specific area and thus are able to provide more accurate budgetary estimates. Also, when lower-level managers participate in the budgeting process, they are more likely to perceive the resulting budget as fair. The overall goal is to reach agreement on a budget that the managers consider fair and achievable, but which also meets the corporate goals set by top management. When this goal is met, the budget will provide positive motivation for the managers. In contrast, if managers view the budget as unfair and unrealistic, they may feel discouraged and uncommitted to budget goals. The risk of having unrealistic budgets is generally greater when the budget is developed from top management down to lower management than vice versa. Illustration 23-1 graphically displays the flow of budget data from bottom to top under participative budgeting.
For example, at one time, in an effort to revive its plummeting stock, Time Warner's top management determined and publicly announced bold new financial goals for the coming year. Unfortunately, these goals were not reached. The next year, the company got a new CEO who said the company would now actually set reasonable goals that it could meet. The new budgets were developed with each operating unit setting what it felt were optimistic but attainable goals. In the words of one manager, using this approach created a sense of teamwork.
Participative budgeting does, however, have potential disadvantages. First, the “give and take” of participative budgeting is time-consuming (and thus more costly). Under a “top-down” approach, the budget is simply developed by top management and then dictated to lower-level managers. A second disadvantage is that participative budgeting can foster budgetary “gaming” through budgetary slack. Budgetary slack occurs when managers intentionally underestimate budgeted revenues or overestimate budgeted expenses in order to make it easier to achieve budgetary goals. To minimize budgetary slack, higher-level managers must carefully review and thoroughly question the budget projections provided to them by employees whom they supervise.
For the budget to be effective, top management must completely support the budget. The budget is an important basis for evaluating performance. It also can be used as a positive aid in achieving projected goals. The effect of an evaluation is positive when top management tempers criticism with advice and assistance. In contrast, a manager is likely to respond negatively if top management uses the budget exclusively to assess blame. A budget should not be used as a pressure device to force improved performance. In sum, a budget can be a manager's friend or a foe.
Ethics Note
Unrealistic budgets can lead to unethical employee behavior such as cutting corners on the job or distorting internal financial reports.
Budgeting and long-range planning are not the same. One important difference is the time period involved. The maximum length of a budget is usually one year, and budgets are often prepared for shorter periods of time, such as a month or a quarter. In contrast, long-range planning usually encompasses a period of at least five years.
A second significant difference is in emphasis. Budgeting focuses on achieving specific short-term goals, such as meeting annual profit objectives. Long-range planning, on the other hand, identifies long-term goals, selects strategies to achieve those goals, and develops policies and plans to implement the strategies. In long-range planning, management also considers anticipated trends in the economic and political environment and how the company should cope with them.
The final difference between budgeting and long-range planning relates to the amount of detail presented. Budgets, as you will see in this chapter, can be very detailed. Long-range plans contain considerably less detail. The data in long-range plans are intended more for a review of progress toward long-term goals than as a basis of control for achieving specific results. The primary objective of long-range planning is to develop the best strategy to maximize the company's performance over an extended future period.
Helpful Hint In comparing a budget with a long-range plan: (1) Which has more detail? (2) Which is done for a longer period of time? (3) Which is more concerned with short-term goals?
Answers: (1) Budget. (2) Long-range plan. (3) Budget.
The term “budget” is actually a shorthand term to describe a variety of budget documents. All of these documents are combined into a master budget. The master budget is a set of interrelated budgets that constitutes a plan of action for a specified time period.
The master budget contains two classes of budgets. Operating budgets are the individual budgets that result in the preparation of the budgeted income statement. These budgets establish goals for the company's sales and production personnel. In contrast, financial budgets focus primarily on the cash resources needed to fund expected operations and planned capital expenditures. Financial budgets include the capital expenditure budget, the cash budget, and the budgeted balance sheet.
Illustration 23-2 pictures the individual budgets included in a master budget, and the sequence in which they are prepared. The company first develops the operating budgets, beginning with the sales budget. Then, it prepares the financial budgets. We will explain and illustrate each budget shown in Illustration 23-2 except the capital expenditure budget. That budget is discussed under the topic of capital budgeting in Chapter 26.
DO IT!
Budget Terminology
Use this list of terms to complete the sentences that follow.
Long-range planning | Participative budgeting |
Sales forecast | Operating budgets |
Master budget | Financial budgets |
1. A ________________ shows potential sales for the industry and a company's expected share of such sales.
2. ________________ are used as the basis for the preparation of the budgeted income statement.
3. The ________________ is a set of interrelated budgets that constitutes a plan of action for a specified time period.
4. ________________ identifies long-term goals, selects strategies to achieve these goals, and develops policies and plans to implement the strategies.
5. Lower-level managers are more likely to perceive results as fair and achievable under a ________________ approach.
6. ________________ focus primarily on the cash resources needed to fund expected operations and planned capital expenditures.
Action Plan
Understand the budgeting process, including the importance of the sales forecast.
Understand the difference between an operating budget and a financial budget.
Differentiate budgeting from long-range planning.
Realize that the master budget is a set of interrelated budgets.
Solution
1. Sales forecast.
2. Operating budgets.
3. Master budget.
4. Long-range planning.
5. Participative budgeting.
6. Financial budgets.
Related exercise material: BE23-1, E23-1, and DO IT! 23-1.
We use a case study of Hayes Company in preparing the operating budgets. Hayes manufactures and sells a single product, an ergonomically designed bike seat with multiple customizable adjustments, called the Rightride. The budgets are prepared by quarters for the year ending December 31, 2014. Hayes Company begins its annual budgeting process on September 1, 2013, and it completes the budget for 2014 by December 1, 2013.
As shown in the master budget in Illustration 23-2, the sales budget is prepared first. Each of the other budgets depends on the sales budget. The sales budget is derived from the sales forecast. It represents management's best estimate of sales revenue for the budget period. An inaccurate sales budget may adversely affect net income. For example, an overly optimistic sales budget may result in excessive inventories that may have to be sold at reduced prices. In contrast, an unduly pessimistic sales budget may result in loss of sales revenue due to inventory shortages.
For example, at one time Amazon.com significantly underestimated demand for its e-book reader, the Kindle. As a consequence, it did not produce enough Kindles and was completely sold out of the readers well before the holiday shopping season. Not only did this represent a huge lost opportunity for Amazon.com, but it exposed it to potential competitors, who were eager to provide customers with alternatives to the Kindle.
Forecasting sales is challenging. For example, consider the forecasting challenges faced by major sports arenas, whose revenues depend on the success of the home team. Madison Square Garden's revenues from April to June were $193 million during a year when the Knicks made the NBA playoffs. But revenues were only $133.2 million a couple of years later when the team did not make the playoffs. Or, consider the challenges faced by Hollywood movie producers in predicting the complicated revenue stream produced by a new movie. Movie theater ticket sales represent only 20% of total revenue. The bulk of revenue comes from global sales, DVDs, video-on-demand, merchandising products, and videogames, all of which are difficult to forecast.
The sales budget is prepared by multiplying the expected unit sales volume for each product by its anticipated unit selling price. Hayes Company expects sales volume to be 3,000 units in the first quarter, with 500-unit increases in each succeeding quarter. Illustration 23-3 (page 1082) shows the sales budget for the year, by quarter, based on a sales price of $60 per unit.
Helpful Hint For a retail or manufacturing company, what is the starting point in preparing the master budget, and why?
Answer: The sales budget is the starting point for the master budget. It sets the level of activity for other functions such as production and purchasing.
Some companies classify the anticipated sales revenue as cash or credit sales and by geographical regions, territories, or salespersons.
SERVICE COMPANY INSIGHT
The Implications of Budgetary Optimism
Companies aren't the only ones that have to estimate revenues. Governments at all levels (e.g., local, state, or federal) prepare annual budgets. Most are required to submit balanced budgets, that is, estimated revenues are supposed to cover anticipated expenditures. Unfortunately, estimating government revenues can be as difficult as, or even more difficult than, estimating company revenues. The accuracy of government estimates is most critical during economic downturns. If governments fail to anticipate lower revenues during the planning stage, they often later have to make much larger, more disruptive cuts than would have been originally necessary.
For example, during 2009, the median state government overestimated revenues by 10.2%, with four state governments missing by more than 25%. What makes estimation so difficult for these governments? Most states rely on income taxes, which fluctuate widely with economic gyrations. Some states rely on sales taxes, which are problematic because the laws regarding sales taxes haven't adjusted for the shift from manufacturing to service companies and from brick-and-mortar stores to online sales.
Source: Conor Dougherty, “States Fumble Revenue Forecasts,” Wall Street Journal Online (March 2, 2011).
Why is it important that government budgets accurately estimate future revenues during economic downturns? (See page 1120.)
The production budget shows the number of units of a product to produce to meet anticipated sales demand. Production requirements are determined from the following formula.1
A realistic estimate of ending inventory is essential in scheduling production requirements. Excessive inventories in one quarter may lead to cutbacks in production and employee layoffs in a subsequent quarter. On the other hand, inadequate inventories may result either in added costs for overtime work or in lost sales. Hayes Company believes it can meet future sales requirements by maintaining an ending inventory equal to 20% of the next quarter's budgeted sales volume. For example, the ending finished goods inventory for the first quarter is 700 units (20% × anticipated second-quarter sales of 3,500 units). Illustration 23-5 shows the production budget.
The production budget, in turn, provides the basis for the budgeted costs for each manufacturing cost element, as explained in the following pages.
DO IT!
Production budget
Becker Company estimates that 2014 unit sales will be 12,000 in quarter 1, 16,000 in quarter 2, and 20,000 in quarter 3, at a unit selling price of $30. Management desires to have ending finished goods inventory equal to 15% of the next quarter's expected unit sales. Prepare a production budget by quarter for the first six months of 2014.
Action Plan
Begin with budgeted sales in units.
Add desired ending finished goods inventory.
Subtract beginning finished goods inventory.
Solution
Related exercise material: BE23-3, E23-4, E23-6, and DO IT! 23-2.
The direct materials budget shows both the quantity and cost of direct materials to be purchased. The quantities of direct materials are derived from the following formula.
After the company determines the number of units to purchase, it can compute the budgeted cost of direct materials to be purchased. It does so by multiplying the required units of direct materials by the anticipated cost per unit.
The desired ending inventory is again a key component in the budgeting process. For example, inadequate inventories could result in temporary shutdowns of production. Because of its close proximity to suppliers, Hayes Company maintains an ending inventory of raw materials equal to 10% of the next quarter's production requirements. The manufacture of each Rightride requires 2 pounds of raw materials, and the expected cost per pound is $4. Illustration 23-7 shows the direct materials budget. Assume that the desired ending direct materials amount is 1,020 pounds for the fourth quarter of 2014.
Betting That Prices Won't Fall
Sometimes things happen that cause managers to reevaluate their normal purchasing patterns. Consider, for example, the predicament that businesses faced when the price of many raw materials recently skyrocketed. Rubber, cotton, oil, corn, wheat, steel, copper, and spices— prices for seemingly everything were going straight up. Anticipating that prices might continue to go up, many managers decided to stockpile much larger quantities of raw materials to avoid paying even higher prices in the future. For example, after cotton prices rose 92%, one manager of a printed T-shirt manufacturer decided to stockpile a huge supply of plain T-shirts in anticipation of additional price increases. While he normally has about 30 boxes of T-shirts in inventory, he purchased 2,500 boxes.
Source: Liam Pleven and Matt Wirz, “Companies Stock Up as Commodities Prices Rise,” Wall Street Journal Online (February 3, 2011).
What are the potential downsides of stockpiling a huge amount of raw materials? (See page 1120.)
DO IT!
Master Budget
Soriano Company is preparing its master budget for 2014. Relevant data pertaining to its sales, production, and direct materials budgets are as follows.
Sales. Sales for the year are expected to total 1,200,000 units. Quarterly sales, as a percentage of total sales, are 20%, 25%, 30%, and 25%, respectively. The sales price is expected to be $50 per unit for the first three quarters and $55 per unit beginning in the fourth quarter. Sales in the first quarter of 2015 are expected to be 10% higher than the budgeted sales for the first quarter of 2014.
Production. Management desires to maintain the ending finished goods inventories at 25% of the next quarter's budgeted sales volume.
Direct materials. Each unit requires 3 pounds of raw materials at a cost of $5 per pound. Management desires to maintain raw materials inventories at 5% of the next quarter's production requirements. Assume the production requirements for the first quarter of 2015 are 810,000 pounds.
Prepare the sales, production, and direct materials budgets by quarters for 2014.
Action Plan
Know the form and content of the sales budget.
Prepare the sales budget first, as the basis for the other budgets.
Determine the units that must be produced to meet anticipated sales.
Know how to compute the beginning and ending finished goods units.
Determine the materials required to meet production needs.
Know how to compute the beginning and ending direct materials units.
Solution
Related exercise material: BE23-2, BE23-3, BE23-4, E23-2, E23-3, E23-4, E23-5, E23-6, and DO IT! 23-2.
Like the direct materials budget, the direct labor budget contains the quantity (hours) and cost of direct labor necessary to meet production requirements. The total direct labor cost is derived from the following formula.
Direct labor hours are determined from the production budget. At Hayes Company, two hours of direct labor are required to produce each unit of finished goods. The anticipated hourly wage rate is $10. Illustration 23-9 shows these data.
The direct labor budget is critical in maintaining a labor force that can meet the expected levels of production.
Helpful Hint An important assumption in Illustration 23-9 is that the company can add to and subtract from its work force as needed so that the $10 per hour labor cost applies to a wide range of possible production activity.
The manufacturing overhead budget shows the expected manufacturing overhead costs for the budget period. As Illustration 23-10 (page 1088) shows, this budget distinguishes between variable and fixed overhead costs. Hayes Company expects variable costs to fluctuate with production volume on the basis of the following rates per direct labor hour: indirect materials $1.00, indirect labor $1.40, utilities $0.40, and maintenance $0.20. Thus, for the 6,200 direct labor hours to produce 3,100 units, budgeted indirect materials are $6,200 (6,200 × $1), and budgeted indirect labor is $8,680 (6,200 × $1.40). Hayes also recognizes that some maintenance is fixed. The amounts reported for fixed costs are assumed for our example. The accuracy of budgeted overhead cost estimates can be greatly improved by employing activity-based costing.
At Hayes Company, overhead is applied to production on the basis of direct labor hours. Thus, as Illustration 23-10 shows, the budgeted annual rate is $8 per hour ($246,400 ÷ 30,800).
Hayes Company combines its operating expenses into one budget, the selling and administrative expense budget. This budget projects anticipated selling and administrative expenses for the budget period. This budget (Illustration 23-11, page 1088) also classifies expenses as either variable or fixed. In this case, the variable expense rates per unit of sales are sales commissions $3 and freight-out $1. Variable expenses per quarter are based on the unit sales from the sales budget (Illustration 23-3, page 1082). For example, Hayes expects sales in the first quarter to be 3,000 units. Thus, Sales Commissions Expense is $9,000 (3,000 × $3), and Freight-Out is $3,000 (3,000 × $1). Fixed expenses are based on assumed data.
The budgeted income statement is the important end-product of the operating budgets. This budget indicates the expected profitability of operations for the budget period. The budgeted income statement provides the basis for evaluating company performance. Budgeted income statements often act as a call to action. For example, a board member at XM Satellite Radio Holdings felt that budgeted costs were too high relative to budgeted revenues. When management refused to cut its marketing and programming costs, the board member resigned. He felt that without the cuts, the company risked financial crisis.
As you would expect, the budgeted income statement is prepared from the various operating budgets. For example, to find the cost of goods sold, Hayes Company must first determine the total unit cost of producing one Rightride, as follows.
Hayes Company then determines cost of goods sold by multiplying the units sold by the unit cost. Its budgeted cost of goods sold is $660,000 (15,000 × $44). All data for the income statement come from the individual operating budgets except the following: (1) interest expense is expected to be $100, and (2) income taxes are estimated to be $12,000. Illustration 23-13 shows the budgeted income statement.
DO IT!
Budgeted Income Statement
Soriano Company is preparing its budgeted income statement for 2014. Relevant data pertaining to its sales, production, and direct materials budgets can be found in the DO IT! exercise on page 1085.
In addition, Soriano budgets 0.5 hours of direct labor per unit, labor costs at $15 per hour, and manufacturing overhead at $25 per direct labor hour. Its budgeted selling and administrative expenses for 2014 are $12,000,000.
(a) Calculate the budgeted total unit cost. (b) Prepare the budgeted income statement for 2014.
Recall that total unit cost consists of direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead.
Recall that direct materials costs are included in the direct materials budget.
Know the form and content of the income statement.
Use the total unit sales information from the sales budget to compute annual sales and cost of goods sold.
Solution
Related exercise material: BE23-8, E23-9, E23-11, and DO IT! 23-3.
As shown in Illustration 23-2 (page 1080), the financial budgets consist of the capital expenditure budget, the cash budget, and the budgeted balance sheet. We will discuss the capital expenditure budget in Chapter 26. The other budgets are explained in the following sections.
The cash budget shows anticipated cash flows. Because cash is so vital, this budget is often considered to be the most important financial budget.
The cash budget contains three sections (cash receipts, cash disbursements, and financing) and the beginning and ending cash balances, as shown in Illustration 23-14.
Helpful Hint Why is the cash budget prepared after the other budgets are prepared?
Answer: Because the information generated by the other budgets dictates the expected inflows and outflows of cash.
The cash receipts section includes expected receipts from the company's principal source(s) of revenue. These are usually cash sales and collections from customers on credit sales. This section also shows anticipated receipts of interest and dividends, and proceeds from planned sales of investments, plant assets, and the company's capital stock.
The cash disbursements section shows expected cash payments. Such payments include direct materials, direct labor, manufacturing overhead, and selling and administrative expenses. This section also includes projected payments for income taxes, dividends, investments, and plant assets.
The financing section shows expected borrowings and the repayment of the borrowed funds plus interest. Companies need this section when there is a cash deficiency or when the cash balance is below management's minimum required balance.
Data in the cash budget are prepared in sequence. The ending cash balance of one period becomes the beginning cash balance for the next period. Companies obtain data for preparing the cash budget from other budgets and from information provided by management. In practice, cash budgets are often prepared for the year on a monthly basis.
To minimize detail, we will assume that Hayes Company prepares an annual cash budget by quarters. Its cash budget is based on the following assumptions.
1. The January 1, 2014, cash balance is expected to be $38,000. Hayes wishes to maintain a balance of at least $15,000.
2. Sales (Illustration 23-3, page 1082): 60% are collected in the quarter sold and 40% are collected in the following quarter. Accounts receivable of $60,000 at December 31, 2013, are expected to be collected in full in the first quarter of 2014.
3. Short-term investments are expected to be sold for $2,000 cash in the first quarter.
4. Direct materials (Illustration 23-7, page 1084): 50% are paid in the quarter purchased and 50% are paid in the following quarter. Accounts payable of $10,600 at December 31, 2013, are expected to be paid in full in the first quarter of 2014.
5. Direct labor (Illustration 23-9, page 1087): 100% is paid in the quarter incurred.
6. Manufacturing overhead (Illustration 23-10, page 1088) and selling and administrative expenses (Illustration 23-11, page 1088): All items except depreciation are paid in the quarter incurred.
7. Management plans to purchase a truck in the second quarter for $10,000 cash.
8. Hayes makes equal quarterly payments of its estimated annual income taxes.
9. Loans are repaid in the earliest quarter in which there is sufficient cash (that is, when the cash on hand exceeds the $15,000 minimum required balance).
In preparing the cash budget, it is useful to prepare schedules for collections from customers (assumption No. 2) and cash payments for direct materials (assumption No. 4). These schedules are shown in Illustrations 23-15 and 23-16 (page 1092).
Illustration 23-17 shows the cash budget for Hayes Company. The budget indicates that Hayes will need $3,000 of financing in the second quarter to maintain a minimum cash balance of $15,000. Since there is an excess of available cash over disbursements of $22,500 at the end of the third quarter, the borrowing, plus $100 interest, is repaid in this quarter.
A cash budget contributes to more effective cash management. It shows managers when additional financing is necessary well before the actual need arises. And, it indicates when excess cash is available for investments or other purposes.
SERVICE COMPANY INSIGHT
Without a Budget, Can the Games Begin?
Behind the grandeur of the Olympic Games lies a huge financial challenge—how to keep budgeted costs in line with revenues. For example, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, narrowly avoided going into bankruptcy before the Games even started. In order for the event to remain solvent, organizers cancelled glitzy celebrations and shifted promotional responsibilities to an Italian state-run agency. Despite these efforts, after the Games were over, the Italian government created a lottery game to cover its financial losses.
As another example, organizers of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City cut budgeted costs by $200 million shortly before the events began. According to the chief operating and financial officer, the organizers went through every line item in the budget, sorting each one into “must have” versus “nice to have.” As a result, the Salt Lake City Games produced a surplus of $100 million.
Source: Gabriel Kahn and Roger Thurow, “In Turin, Paying for Games Went Down to the Wire,” Wall Street Journal (February 10, 2006).
Why does it matter whether the Olympic Games exceed their budget? (See page 1120.)
The budgeted balance sheet is a projection of financial position at the end of the budget period. This budget is developed from the budgeted balance sheet for the preceding year and the budgets for the current year. Pertinent data from the budgeted balance sheet at December 31, 2013, are as follows.
Illustration 23-18 shows Hayes Company's budgeted balance sheet at December 31, 2014.
The computations and sources of the amounts are explained below.
Cash: Ending cash balance $37,900, shown in the cash budget (Illustration 23-17, page 1092).
Accounts receivable: 40% of fourth-quarter sales $270,000, shown in the schedule of expected collections from customers (Illustration 23-15, page 1091).
Finished goods inventory: Desired ending inventory 1,000 units, shown in the production budget (Illustration 23-5, page 1083) times the total unit cost $44 (shown in Illustration 23-12, page 1089).
Raw materials inventory: Desired ending inventory 1,020 pounds, times the cost per pound $4, shown in the direct materials budget (Illustration 23-7, page 1084).
Buildings and equipment: December 31, 2013, balance $182,000, plus purchase of truck for $10,000 (Illustration 23-17, page 1092).
Accumulated depreciation: December 31, 2013, balance $28,800, plus $15,200 depreciation shown in manufacturing overhead budget (Illustration 23-10, page 1088) and $4,000 depreciation shown in selling and administrative expense budget (Illustration 23-11, page 1088).
Accounts payable: 50% of fourth-quarter purchases $37,200, shown in schedule of expected payments for direct materials (Illustration 23-16, page 1092).
Common stock: Unchanged from the beginning of the year.
Retained earnings: December 31, 2013, balance $46,480, plus net income $47,900, shown in budgeted income statement (Illustration 23-13, page 1089).
After budget data are entered into the computer, Hayes prepares the various budgets (sales, cash, etc.), as well as the budgeted financial statements. Using spreadsheets, management can also perform “what if” (sensitivity) analyses based on different hypothetical assumptions. For example, suppose that sales managers project that sales will be 10% higher in the coming quarter. What impact does this change have on the rest of the budgeting process and the financing needs of the business? The impact of the various assumptions on the budget is quickly determined by the spreadsheet. Armed with these analyses, managers make more informed decisions about the impact of various projects. They also anticipate future problems and business opportunities. As seen in this chapter, budgeting is an excellent use of electronic spreadsheets.
DO IT!
Cash Budget
Martian Company management wants to maintain a minimum monthly cash balance of $15,000. At the beginning of March, the cash balance is $16,500, expected cash receipts for March are $210,000, and cash disbursements are expected to be $220,000. How much cash, if any, must be borrowed to maintain the desired minimum monthly balance?
Write down the basic form of the cash budget, starting with the beginning cash balance, adding cash receipts for the period, deducting cash disbursements, and identifying the needed financing to achieve the desired minimum ending cash balance.
Insert the data given into the outlined form of the cash budget.
Solution
Related exercise material: BE23-9, E23-11, E23-12, E23-13, and DO IT! 23-4.
Budgeting is not limited to manufacturers. Budgets are also used by merchandisers, service companies, and not-for-profit organizations.
As in manufacturing operations, the sales budget for a merchandiser is both the starting point and the key factor in the development of the master budget. The major differences between the master budgets of a merchandiser and a manufacturer are these:
1. A merchandiser uses a merchandise purchases budget instead of a production budget.
2. A merchandiser does not use the manufacturing budgets (direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead).
The merchandise purchases budget shows the estimated cost of goods to be purchased to meet expected sales. The formula for determining budgeted merchandise purchases is:
To illustrate, assume that the budget committee of Lima Company is preparing the merchandise purchases budget for July 2014. It estimates that budgeted sales will be $300,000 in July and $320,000 in August. Cost of goods sold is expected to be 70% of sales—that is, $210,000 in July (.70 × $300,000) and $224,000 in August (.70 × $320,000). The company's desired ending inventory is 30% of the following month's cost of goods sold. Required merchandise purchases for July are $214,200, computed as follows.
When a merchandiser is departmentalized, it prepares separate budgets for each department. For example, a grocery store prepares sales budgets and purchases budgets for each of its major departments, such as meats, dairy, and produce. The store then combines these budgets into a master budget for the store. When a retailer has branch stores, it prepares separate master budgets for each store. Then, it incorporates these budgets into master budgets for the company as a whole.
In a service company, such as a public accounting firm, a law office, or a medical practice, the critical factor in budgeting is coordinating professional staff needs with anticipated services. If a firm is overstaffed, several problems may result: Labor costs are disproportionately high. Profits are lower because of the additional salaries. Staff turnover sometimes increases because of lack of challenging work. In contrast, if a service company is understaffed, it may lose revenue because existing and prospective client needs for service cannot be met. Also, professional staff may seek other jobs because of excessive workloads.
Service companies can obtain budget data for service revenue from expected output or expected input. When output is used, it is necessary to determine the expected billings of clients for services performed. In a public accounting firm, for example, output is the sum of its billings in auditing, tax, and consulting services. When input data are used, each professional staff member projects his or her billable time. The firm then applies billing rates to billable time to produce expected service revenue.
Budgeting is just as important for not-for-profit organizations as for profit-oriented businesses. The budget process, however, is different. In most cases, not-for-profit entities budget on the basis of cash flows (expenditures and receipts), rather than on a revenue and expense basis. Further, the starting point in the process is usually expenditures, not receipts. For the not-for-profit entity, management's task generally is to find the receipts needed to support the planned expenditures. The activity index is also likely to be significantly different. For example, in a not-for-profit entity, such as a university, budgeted faculty positions may be based on full-time equivalent students or credit hours expected to be taught in a department.
For some governmental units, voters approve the budget. In other cases, such as state governments and the federal government, legislative approval is required. After the budget is adopted, it must be followed. Overspending is often illegal. In governmental budgets, authorizations tend to be on a line-by-line basis. That is, the budget for a municipality may have a specified authorization for police and fire protection, garbage collection, street paving, and so on. The line-item authorization of governmental budgets significantly limits the amount of discretion management can exercise. The city manager often cannot use savings from one line item, such as street paving, to cover increased spending in another line item, such as snow removal.
SERVICE COMPANY INSIGHT
Budget Shortfalls as Far as the Eye Can See
All organizations need to stick to budgets. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles learned this the hard way. Over a 10-year period, its endowment shrunk from $50 million to $6 million as its newly hired director strove to build the museum's reputation through spending. The director consistently ran budget deficits, which eventually threatened the museum's survival.
The most recent recession has created budgeting challenges for nearly all governmental agencies. Tax revenues dropped rapidly as earnings declined and unemployment skyrocketed. At the same time, sources of debt financing dried up. To meet a projected shortfall of nearly $50 billion, California proposed to cut the school year by five days, give state workers two unpaid days off per month, and raise the state's sales tax percentage. Even Princeton University, with the largest endowment per student of any U.S. university ($2 million per student), experienced a 25% drop in the value of its endowment when the financial markets plunged. Because the endowment supports 45% of the university's $1.25 billion budget, when the endowment fell the university had to make cuts. Many raises were capped at $2,000, administrative budgets were cut by 5%, and major construction projects were put on hold.
Source: Edward Wyatt and Jori Finkel, “Soaring in Art, Museum Trips Over Finances,” Wall Street Journal Online (December 4, 2008); and Stu Woo, “California's Plans to Close Gap Become More Drastic,” Wall Street Journal Online (January 8, 2009); and John Hechinger, “Princeton Cuts Budget as Endowment Slides,” Wall Street Journal Online (January 9, 2009).
Why would a university's budgeted scholarships probably fall when the stock market suffers a serious drop? (See page 1120.)
Barrett Company has completed all operating budgets other than the income statement for 2014. Selected data from these budgets follow.
Sales revenue: $300,000
Purchases of raw materials: $145,000
Ending inventory of raw materials: $15,000
Direct labor: $40,000
Manufacturing overhead: $73,000, including $3,000 of depreciation expense
Selling and administrative expenses: $36,000 including depreciation expense of $1,000
Interest expense: $1,000
Principal payment on note: $2,000
Dividends declared: $2,000
Income tax rate: 30%
Assume that the number of units produced equals the number sold.
Year-end accounts receivable: 4% of 2014 sales.
Year-end accounts payable: 50% of ending inventory of raw materials.
Interest, direct labor, manufacturing overhead, and selling and administrative expenses other than depreciation are paid as incurred.
Dividends declared and income taxes for 2014 will not be paid until 2015.
Instructions
(a) Calculate budgeted cost of goods sold.
(b) Prepare a budgeted income statement for the year ending December 31, 2014.
(c) Prepare a budgeted balance sheet as of December 31, 2014.
Action Plan
Recall that beginning raw materials inventory plus purchases less ending raw materials inventory equals direct materials used.
Prepare the budgeted income statement before the budgeted balance sheet.
Use the standard form of a cash budget to determine cash on the budgeted balance sheet.
Add budgeted depreciation expense to accumulated depreciation at the beginning of the year to determine accumulated depreciation on the budgeted balance sheet.
Add budgeted net income to retained earnings from the beginning of the year and subtract dividends declared to determine retained earnings on the budgeted balance sheet.
Verify that total assets equal total liabilities and stockholders’ equity on the budgeted balance sheet.
Solution to Comprehensive DO IT! 1
Comprehensive DO IT! 2
Action Plan
Know the form and content of the sales budget.
Prepare the sales budget first as the basis for the other budgets.
Determine the units that must be produced to meet anticipated sales.
Know how to compute the beginning and ending finished goods units.
Asheville Company is preparing its master budget for 2014. Relevant data pertaining to its sales and production budgets are as follows.
Sales. Sales for the year are expected to total 2,100,000 units. Quarterly sales, as a percentage of total sales, are 15%, 25%, 35%, and 25%, respectively. The sales price is expected to be $70 per unit for the first three quarters and $75 per unit beginning in the fourth quarter. Sales in the first quarter of 2015 are expected to be 10% higher than the budgeted sales volume for the first quarter of 2014.
Production. Management desires to maintain ending finished goods inventories at 20% of the next quarter's budgeted sales volume.
Instructions
Prepare the sales budget and production budget by quarters for 2014.
1 Indicate the benefits of budgeting. The primary advantages of budgeting are that it (a) requires management to plan ahead, (b) provides definite objectives for evaluating performance, (c) creates an early warning system for potential problems, (d) facilitates coordination of activities, (e) results in greater management awareness, and (f) motivates personnel to meet planned objectives.
2 State the essentials of effective budgeting. The essentials of effective budgeting are (a) sound organizational structure, (b) research and analysis, and (c) acceptance by all levels of management.
3 Identify the budgets that comprise the master budget. The master budget consists of the following budgets: (a) sales, (b) production, (c) direct materials, (d) direct labor, (e) manufacturing overhead, (f) selling and administrative expense, (g) budgeted income statement, (h) capital expenditure budget, (i) cash budget, and (j) budgeted balance sheet.
4 Describe the sources for preparing the budgeted income statement. The budgeted income statement is prepared from (a) the sales budget; (b) the budgets for direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead; and (c) the selling and administrative expense budget.
5 Explain the principal sections of a cash budget. The cash budget has three sections (receipts, disbursements, and financing) and the beginning and ending cash balances.
6 Indicate the applicability of budgeting in nonmanufacturing companies. Budgeting may be used by merchandisers for development of a merchandise purchases budget. In service companies, budgeting is a critical factor in coordinating staff needs with anticipated services. In not-for-profit organizations, the starting point in budgeting is usually expenditures, not receipts.
Budget A formal written statement of management's plans for a specified future time period, expressed in financial terms. (p. 1076).
Budget committee A group responsible for coordinating the preparation of the budget. (p. 1078).
Budgetary slack The amount by which a manager intentionally underestimates budgeted revenues or overestimates budgeted expenses in order to make it easier to achieve budgetary goals. (p. 1079).
Budgeted balance sheet A projection of financial position at the end of the budget period. (p. 1093).
Budgeted income statement An estimate of the expected profitability of operations for the budget period. (p. 1089).
Cash budget A projection of anticipated cash flows. (p. 1090).
Direct labor budget A projection of the quantity and cost of direct labor necessary to meet production requirements. (p. 1086).
Direct materials budget An estimate of the quantity and cost of direct materials to be purchased. (p. 1084).
Financial budgets Individual budgets that focus primarily on the cash resources needed to fund expected operations and planned capital expenditures. (p. 1079).
Long-range planning A formalized process of identifying long-term goals, selecting strategies to achieve those goals, and developing policies and plans to implement the strategies. (p. 1079).
Manufacturing overhead budget An estimate of expected manufacturing overhead costs for the budget period. (p. 1087).
Master budget A set of interrelated budgets that constitutes a plan of action for a specific time period. (p. 1079).
Merchandise purchases budget The estimated cost of goods to be purchased by a merchandiser to meet expected sales. (p. 1095).
Operating budgets Individual budgets that result in a budgeted income statement. (p. 1079).
Participative budgeting A budgetary approach that starts with input from lower-level managers and works upward so that managers at all levels participate. (p. 1078).
Production budget A projection of the units that must be produced to meet anticipated sales. (p. 1082).
Sales budget An estimate of expected sales revenue for the budget period. (p. 1081).
Sales forecast The projection of potential sales for the industry and the company's expected share of such sales. (p. 1077).
Selling and administrative expense budget A projection of anticipated selling and administrative expenses for the budget period. (p. 1087).
Self-Test, Brief Exercises, Exercises, Problem Set A, and many more resources are available for practice in WileyPLUS.
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1This formula ignores any work in process inventories, which are assumed to be nonexistent in Hayes Company.