Budgeting. A budget is a financial projection for the future and is thus a valuable
managerial planning aid. Managerial accountants develop both short- and long-range
budget projections. Short-range budget projections disclose detailed financial plans for a
12-month period, whereas long-range budgets are less-detailed financial projections for five
or more years into the future.
A good budgetary system is also a useful managerial control mechanism. Because
budgets attempt to predict future financial expectations, a company’s managers can
compare the causes of significant variations between actual and budgeted results during
the budget period. Through timely performance reports that compare actual operating
results with prescribed norms, mangers are able to identify and investigate significant
negative variations. Similarly, favorable budget variations enable managers to reward
outstanding performance or make investment decisions on specific activities that promise
to benefit future operating performance.