If the very thought of budgets pushes your sanity over the limit, then this practical, easy-to-use guide is just what you need. Budgeting Basics and Beyond, Fourth Edition equips you with an all-in-one resource guaranteed to make the budgeting process easier, less stressful, and more effective. The new edition covers rolling budgets (forecasts), activity-based budgeting, life-cycle budgeting. Cloud computing, Balanced Scorecard, budgeting for nonprofit organizations, business simulations for executive and management training, and much more!

Budgeting Basics and Beyond, Fourth Edition is a practical, easy-to-use problem-solver and up-to-date reference tool for today’s financial and nonfinancial managers in public practice and private industry.

Table of Contents :

Chapter 1: The What and Why of Budgeting: An Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Strategic Planning and Budgeting: Process, Preparation, and Control 29
Chapter 3: Administering the Budget: Reports, Analyses, and Evaluations 45
Chapter 4: Break-Even and Contribution Margin Analysis: Profit, Cost, and Volume Changes 57
Chapter 5: Profit Planning: Targeting and Reaching Achievable Goals 79
Chapter 6: Master Budget: Genesis of Financial Forecasting and Profit Planning 95
Chapter 7: Cost Behavior: Emphasis on Flexible Budgets 119
Chapter 8: Evaluating Performance: The Use of Variance Analysis 131
Chapter 9: Manufacturing Costs: Sales Forecasts and Realistic Budgets 191
Chapter 10: Marketing: Budgeting for Sales, Advertising, and Distribution 203
Chapter 11: Research and Development: Budgets for a Long-Term Plan 223
Chapter 12: General and Administrative Costs: Budgets for Maximum Productivity 237
Chapter 13: Capital Expenditures: Assets to Be Bought, Sold, and Discarded 243
Chapter 14: Forecasting and Planning: Reducing Risk in Decision Making 267
Chapter 15: Moving Averages and Smoothing Techniques: Quantitative Forecasting 277
Chapter 16: Regression Analysis: Popular Sales Forecast System 289
Chapter 17: Cash Budgeting and Forecasting Cash Flow: Two Pragmatic Methods 301
Chapter 18: Financial Modeling: Tools for Budgeting and Profit Planning 315
Chapter 19: Using Software Packages and E-Budgeting: Computer-Based Models, Spreadsheets, and Web-Based Systems 329
Chapter 20: Capital Budgeting: Selecting the Optimum Long-Term Investment and Real Options 351
Chapter 21: Budgeting for Cost Management: Activity-Based Budgeting and Life-Cycle Budgeting 393
Chapter 22: Zero-Base Budgeting: Priority Budgeting for Best Resource Allocation 411
Chapter 23: Managers’ Performance and Balanced Scorecard: Evaluation at the Division Level 419
Chapter 24: Budgeting for Service Organizations: Special Features 453
Chapter 25: Budgeting for Nonprofit Organizations: Diverse Types 463
Chapter 26: Using Management Games for Executive Training 487