Budget module: getting it, managing it and shedding it
Andrew GrahamAndrew Graham
School of Policy StudiesSchool of Policy Studies
Queens UniversityQueens University
MPA 827 2014MPA 827 2014
Another definition
A budget process is a system of rules governing the decision-making that leads to a budget, from its formulation, through its legislative approval, to its execution.
Karl-Martin, Ehrhart, Roy Gardner, Jürgen von Hagen, and Claudia Keser Budget Processes: Theory and Experimental Evidence, November 2000
The Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy and Management
• Planning Instrument
• Political Instrument
• Social Instrument
• Economic Instrument
• Legal Instrument
Source: Jerome B. McKinney and Lawrence C. Howard, Public Administration: Balancing Power and Accountability (Oak park, IL: Moore Publishing, 1979)
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Control Steps taken by management to
ensure that objectives are attained.
Planning Developing objectives for
acquisitionand use of resources.
A budget is a financialplan for achieving the financial and
operational goals of an organization. It expresses what is to be undertaken
in the defined period and authorizesthe financial authorities needed.
A budget is a financialplan for achieving the financial and
operational goals of an organization. It expresses what is to be undertaken
in the defined period and authorizesthe financial authorities needed.
What is a Public Sector Budget?
• Result of intense planning process, short-term decisions, roles of the dice and political nuance
• Budgets from Ministers of Finance, i.e. high level political documents not the sole source of program funding: • Statutory funding• Self-funded programs
Management budget sets limits, targets and authorities to get on with the work
Legal instrument to allow spending = Appropriations
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Budget Perspectives
• Budget applies differently at different levels
• Government-level: broad, policy-driven, focus on change and announcements, combines revenue with expenditure
• Department: will focus on overall results, generalized allocation to program pockets, more detail
• Unit: budget is tightly defined, focus on inputs, highly specific, focus on defining resources available
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Our focus is departmental and unit-based.
Our focus is departmental and unit-based.
Budgeting in time ContextHistoric Information
Evaluating Performance
Controlling operations
Forecasting & Planning
Plus Effects of Outside Environment
Future
Informati
on
Curr
ent
Info
rmat
i
on
Current Operating Data
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Types of BudgetsTypes of Budgets• Operating Budget:
– also called recurrent budget
– funds designated to continuing operations
“Plan for the day-in and day-out operations of the organization. It is generally prepared for one year.”
• Capital Budget: – budget for permanent works: defining permanent
– tends to combine current year and future year plans
– current year often transferred into Operating Budget
“Plan for the acquisition of buildings and equipment that will be used by the organization in one or more years beyond the year of acquisition.”
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Types of Operating BudgetsTypes of Operating Budgets
Budget TypeBudget Type CharacteristicsCharacteristics General UseGeneral Use
Line ItemLine Item Expenditures and Expenditures and revenues are related revenues are related to commoditiesto commodities
ControlControl
PerformancePerformance Expenditures and Expenditures and revenues are related revenues are related to workloadto workload
Management Management efficiencyefficiency
Program/Program/ResultsResults
BasedBased
Expenditures and Expenditures and revenues are related revenues are related to public goalsto public goals
Planning and Planning and ImpactImpact
Not mutually exclusive.Not mutually exclusive.
Line Item Operating Budget
• Simplest form of budgeting
• Budget information organized according to types of expenses, expenditure or cost categories
• Often detailed in object codes – little detail.
• Primary orientation is expenditure control and accountability: permits inter-budget cost comparisons, creates common reference points
• Relatively easy to prepare
• Does not provide any information regarding activities and functions of a program
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Line Item Operating Budget Example
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Budget of the Killaloe General Hospital for Fiscal Year 200X
Object Code Budget100. Salaries 8,000,000200. Supplies 2,000,000300. Rentals 250,000400. Professional Fees 750,000
Total 11,000,000
Line Item Budgeting
Limitations:
• Rigid, unable to cope with
• rapidly changing priorities and circumstances
• creation of new government services
• Budget evaluation mechanism difficult without mechanism to link things to be bought with things to be done.
• New budgets based on previous budget with increments for price increases
• No evaluation of whether objectives are still met or cost-effective
Line Item Budgeting
Advantages:
• Easy to make
• Micro-level expense control
• Where the rubber hits the road: this is the details that bedevil
• Reliance on past data
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Responsibility Centre/ Program Budget
• Distributes budget to internal units: Responsibility Centre
• Program could involve several responsibility centres
• Important means of assigning resources to program objectives, specific offices and specific locations
• Seldom see this on its own for operational purposes
• Usually in combination with a line item approach
• Designed to follow the money.
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A responsibility centre is part of the organization, such as a department or unit, for which a manager is assigned responsibility, usually with spending authority for the assigned budget as well as
responsibility for its proper use.
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Responsibility Center Budget - ExampleResponsibility Center Budget - Example
Budget of the Killaloe General Hospital for Fiscal Year 200XResponsibility Centre Budget
01. Operating Room 4,000,000
02. Laboratory 1,000,000
03. Radiology 1,000,000
04. Patient Care 2,500,000
05. Outpatient Care 1,500,000
06. Administration 1,000,000
Total 11,000,000
Program Budget - Example
Bureau of Public Safety and Leisure Services FY 200x-0y
Program Program Element Amount
05 -Public Safety 0501-Fire Protection 3,500,000
0502 - Police 5,000,000
Subtotal 8,500,000
06 – Leisure Service 0601 – Parks 2,000,000
0602 – Library 1,000,000
Subtotal 3,000,000
Total 11,500,000
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Program and Line Item Budget - Example
Bureau of Public Safety and Leisure Services
Detailed Budget Information FY 200x-200y
Program Program Element
Responsibility Centre
Line Expenditure
Amount
05- Public Safety
0501 – Fire Protection
050101- Central Office
Staffing 250,000
Supplies 500,000
050102 – Upper Level Station
Staffing 1,250,000
Supplies 150,000
050103 – River Street Station
Staffing 1,200,000
Supplies 150,000
Total 3,500,000
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Functional Budgets
• Result of combining a line item (input) and program approach
• Functional Budgets focus on the major functions performed by an organization.
• Combine elements of Line-Item and Responsibility Centered budgets
• This format is often used for external reporting
• Note the line item detail
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Functional Budgets - Example
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Budget of the Killaloe General Hospital for Fiscal Year 2011
RC 100. Salaries
200. Supplies
300. Rentals
400. Professional
Fees
Total
01. Operating Room
3,250,000 250,000 50,000 450,000 4,000,000
02. Laboratory
550,000 350,000 25,000 75,000 1,000,000
03. Radiology 450,000 450,000 0 100,000 1,000,000
04. Patient Care
2,000,000 400,000 0 100,000 2,500,000
05. Outpatient Care
1,050,000 125,000 25,000 50,000 1,250,000
06. Admin 700,000 425,000 50,000 100,000 1,250,000
Total 8,000,00 2,000,000 150,000 850,000 11,000,00
Program Budgets/ Results-Based Budgets
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•Budgets meant to link funding to expected results
•Program formulation and resources justification involve a set of predefined objectives, expected results, outputs, inputs and performance indicators which constitute a logic framework
•Performance in achieving results is measured by predefined performance indicators.
Performance Budget – small and unpretentious Example
Road Maintenance Budget FY 2006-2007
Activity Cost Formula Amount
Paving Roads Miles to be paved: 10
Cost per mile: $400K
4,000,000
Resurfacing Roads Miles: 5
Cost per mile: $150K
750,00
Total Road Maintenance Costs
4,750,000
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Performance budgets/results based budgets
Strengths:
• Budget based on outputs• Emphasis on performance and results• Greater autonomy and flexibility meant to follow• Greater accountability and reporting• Departments more aware of outputs and cost of producing
outputs• Puts decisions on deployment of resources in the hands of
people at operations
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Performance budgets/results based budgets
Shortcomings:
• No clear link to desired outcomes – the attribution issue• Lack of focus on key internal processes• Generally poor costing of inputs to results – the path is not
clear• With tighter fiscal position, need for greater emphasis on
inter-ministry allocations• Diminishes need for cost control and basic probity.
Flexible budget
Organizations often experience more or less volume than
budgeted. Flexible budgets look at expected revenues, expenses, and net
income under different volume assumptions. The key to flexible budgeting is the identification of:
Fixed Costs - which do not change with volume. Variable Costs - which do change with volume.
Flexible budget results are normally shown in a side-by-side columnar format.
A flexible budget is a form of "What if?" analysis.
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Volume of Breakfast Provided[1] 300 450 600
Expenses
Salaries 50,000 50,000 50,000
Supplies[2] 180,000 270,000 360,000
Rent 14,400 14,400 14,400
Other 5,000 5,000 5,000
Total Expense 249,400 339,400 429,400
Revenues
Municipality 200,000 200,000 200,000
Fund raising 75,000 125,000 125,000
Total Revenue 275,000 325,000 325,000
Surplus/(Deficit) 75,000 (14,400) (104,400)
[1] Assuming that the service is provided 200 days a year[2] Assume the cost per meal is $3.00 with little flexibility for economies of scale.
Hot Meals for School Flexible Operating Budget for 200X
Off-Budget Expenditures• Off-budget expenditures refer to financial transaction that are
not accounted for in the budget
• Most public budgets exclude certain governmental activities
• Generally (but not always) refers to activities of public enterprises, credit provided or guaranteed by government or subsidies channelled through the tax system
• Increasing trend to include them in the financial statements of government
• Weaker control of these, but there is control nonetheless
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Off-Budget Expenditures
Introduction of accrual also highlights financial obligations of a non-cash nature that create potential liabilities for the government, e.g. loan guarantees
The main forms of off-budget expenditures are:• off-budget funds;• direct loans;• guarantees;• Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)• Public sector entities that are commercial and legally
excluded from the budget, e.g. Post Office.
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A fund is defined as a fiscal accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts
recording cash and other financial resources, together with all related liabilities and
residual equity or balances, and charges, which are segregated of the purpose of
carrying on specific activities or attain certain objectives for which special regulations,
restriction or limitations apply.
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Funds in Budget Architecture
Funds in Budget Architecture
• Often funds are managed and reported separately – leading to a separate set of financial statements.
• The use of funds restricts budgetary flexibility but displays allocation for specialized purposes in a transparent way – funds are often mandated in accounting standards or law, e.g. for municipal governments.
• Often, special funds are created to segregate monies for programs for special purposes or as a result of unique designated revenue sources
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Funds in Budget Architecture
• Use of funds varies with governments
• Municipal governments tend to be built almost entirely around funds.
• The federal government and provinces will create special funds for a variety of purposes, some that are linked to unique sources of funds through fees or special taxes, some of which are administered at arms length from normal practice.
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Fund TypesGovernment Government
FundsFundsProprietary
FundsFiduciary Funds
General FundGeneral Fund
Special Revenue Special Revenue FundFund
Capital Projects Capital Projects FundFund
Debt Service Debt Service FundsFunds
Special Special Assessment Assessment
FundsFunds
Enterprise Funds
Internal Service Funds
Expendable Trust Funds
Nonexpendable Trust Funds
Agency FundsProvides for
ongoing activities of a self-sustaining
operation
Assets held in Trust by the Organization
Revolving Funds• An authority, in the case of government usually a
statutory one, to use the revenues generated from an activity to finance it.
• This authority generally continues on a permanent basis from one year to the next without further authority being needed.
• Always created through budgetary expenditure means, but then those funds move off-budget.
• Although surpluses or deficits may occur from year to year, they are generally expected to balance out over time.
• Many arrangements exist for the use of retained earnings, with the principle being that the fund retains its earnings unless some form of gain sharing is put in place.
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Zero Base Budgeting• Objective to “reset the clock” each year.
• Traditional incremental budgeting assumes that there is a guaranteed budgetary base-the previous year’ level of appropriations -and the only question is how much of an increment will be given.
• Zero Based Budgeting implies that managers need to build a budget from the ground up, building a case for their spending as if no baseline existed- to start at zero.
• Resources are not necessarily allocated in accordance with previous patterns and consequently each existing item of expenditure has to be annually re-justified.
The purpose of ZBB is to reevaluate and reexamine all programs and expenditures
for each budgeting cycle by analyzing workload and efficiency measures to
determine priorities or alternative levels of funding for each program or expenditure.
Through this system, each program is justified in its entirety each time a new
budget is developed.
Strengths of ZBB
• ZBB does not assume that last year’s allocation of resources is necessarily appropriate for the current year.
• The systematic nature of such a fundamental review imposes a discipline on the organization which has produced in practice secondary advantages.
• It produces in a readily accessible form more and better management information.
• If implemented well, ZBB can eliminate a sense of “entitlement” to cost increases.
• Improved discipline in developing budgets.
• More meaningful budget discussions during plan review sessions.
Weaknesses of ZBB• ZBB vastly overestimates people’s ability to calculate.
• Multiple impacts often ignored
• The ranking process is difficult
• The implementation of a ZBB system requires a great deal of time.
• Attempts by agencies to manipulate priority listings by ranking popular items lower than items that would have little chance of funding – the Musical Ride.
• Established programs have political support and they will continue to receive their share of the budget regardless of any analysis produced.
The budget process A process of planning and control.
A look ahead at what an organization can and can't do
A process of allocating scarce resources to unlimited demands
The Budget Cycle
- Preparation – based on guidelines– normally done by responsibility center managers
- Review and Adoption
- Implementation and Control
- Evaluation of Results and Feedback
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Budget Process: Know it and Use itEvery organization has a budgetary process of some kind
Increasingly they attempt to be strategic for the organization
Managers are not simply recipients of budgets: they are players in the budget process
Sustaining programs, getting program changes, resisting change or helping it all mean knowing how the budget process works and using it to your advantage
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Expenditure Management Cycle – Broader than Just the Budget Cycle
Planningsystem
Medium termplans, e.g. three
year rolling plans
Annual budgetsDevelopment,recurrent and
revenue
Fund releaseprocedure, e.g...
warranting
Accounting forrevenue andexpenditure
Public expenditurereview Institutions
Reports andfinancial statements
Audit system
Project monitoring
Projectappraisal
Resourceallocation
Liquidity
managem
ent
Expen
ditur
e
contr
ol
Monitoring
& controlling
Post eventreview
Accountability
Expenditurereview
Financial management system boundaries
Source: Adapted from Integrated Financial Management. Michael Parry, International Management Consultants Limited. Training Workshop on Government Budgeting in Developing Countries. THE UNITED NATIONS. December 1997.
Elements of an Effective Budget Cycle• Basic framework exists and is used• Desired outcomes known• Linkage to strategic plans• Common format, readily understood• Timetable for preparation clear and reasonable• Set of directions – rules of the game• Budgetary and program limits known• Established methodologies for costing and forecasting
where needed• Directions on availability of new funds, use of current
funds and reallocation rules
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Simple Simple Budget Budget
CycleCycle
Start/RestartStart/Restart
Strategic Planning Phase
Budget Preparation Phase
Budget Review Internal
Executive
Results FeedbackAuditing for Compliance and
for Results
Budget Review and Approval – Legislative
Budget Execution
What to look for in a strategic budget linkage
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Strategic Plan
Does this organization know its Mission?
Does this organization have an end state or
vision?What are the ground rules or basic operating assumptions and principles?
Does it have a grip on reality – what is its situation analysis including risks.
Does it have goals and objectives that make sense?
Are there targets with measures that we can
understand.
Does what it is going to do this year mesh with its goals and
mission?
What’s it going to cost?
Is it sustainable?
Budget Processes as a Planning Tool
• Budgets are where the rubber hits the policy road
• Budgets clear permissions to move ahead on plans
• Delivery capacity on plans directly linked to resources available
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Budgets as a Control Tool
When a budget is approved, the expenditure estimates become appropriations
An appropriation both authorizes expenditures and limits expenditures
Both defines and limits managerial discretion
Can be used to limit uses to specific allotments or funds
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Building the Budget
• This is the process of micro-budgeting
• Building the budget logic but also the budget story
• Within organizations, tends to be a two-way process: direction from above and input from below
• Often costs are driven by variables outside the control of line managers, e.g. collective bargaining
• No guarantee that funds will be allocated to cover costs
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Pluses and minuses of top-down and bottom-up approaches to budgeting.Pluses and minuses of top-down and bottom-up approaches to budgeting.
Building the budget: understanding costs, need and demand
Role of past experience, especially in incremental situations
Types of measures:
• Need• Demand• Workload
Productivity assumptions and targets
Revenue assumptions
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Budget GamingBudget Gaming
Projections (Fore and Aft) and Forecasts
• Budgets often build on previous year’s base plus or minus
• Differing set of assumptions: optimistic and pessimistic
• Controllable and uncontrollable costs
• Fixed and variable costs
• Direct and indirect costs and the full cost principle
• Treatment of overhead
• Mandated standards
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Tensions Inherent in Public Sector Budgeting
• Revenue versus expectations
• Central agency versus program organizations
• New versus old
• Complexity versus clarity
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Key Actors in Budget Process
Finance ministry or treasury: Coordinate & drive budget process
Spending departments: Responsible for expenditures within their jurisdiction.
Head of State & Cabinet: Make political decisions about tradeoffs.
Legislature: Scrutinize & authorize revenues and expenditures.
Supreme audit institutions: Audit government accounts for compliance and performance.
Others: Media, civil society organizations, donors & international financial institutions.
B u d g e t t a b l e d i n t h el e g i s l a t u r e
C o n s i d e r a t i o n b yp a r l i a m e n t a r yc o m m i t t e e ( s )
P a r l i a m e n t a c c e p t s ,a m e n d s o r r e j e c t s t h eb u d g e t
F i n a n c e m i n i s t r y o rt r e a s u r y i s s u e sg u i d e l i n e s t o s p e n d i n gd e p a r t m e n t s o r a g e n c i e s
S p e n d i n g d e p a r t m e n t ss u b m i t d r a f t b u d g e t s
N e g o t i a t i o n a n d f i n a ld e c i s i o n s b y e x e c u t i v e
D r a f t i n g L e g i s l a t i v e I m p l e m e n t a t i o n A u d i t
F u n d s a p p o r t i o n e d t os p e n d i n g d e p a r t m e n t s t oi m p l e m e n t a c t i v i t i e s
F i n a n c e m i n i s t r ym o n i t o r s s p e n d i n g
R e q u e s t f o r l e g i s l a t i v ea p p r o v a l o f a d j u s t m e n tb u d g e t i f n e c e s s a r y
S u p r e m e a u d i t i n s t i t u t i o na s s e s s e s d e p a r t m e n t a la c c o u n t s a n dp e r f o r m a n c e
A u d i t r e p o r t s p u b l i s h e da n d r e v i e w e d b yp a r l i a m e n t
B e f o r e b e g i n n i n g o f r e l e v a n t f i s c a l y e a r F i s c a l y e a r s t a r t s a n d e n d s F o l l o w i n g e n d o f f i s c a l y e a r
S t a g e s o f t h e a n n u a l b u d g e t p r o c e s s
Drafting stage
• A draft budget that can be submitted to legislature.
• Mostly internal to the executive, secretive.
• Sets fiscal policy & estimates revenues on projections to establish total resources.
• Finance ministry or central office issues guidelines to spending departments.
• Budget requests from spending departments.
• Negotiations at bureaucratic and political levels.
Legislative stage
• Budget tabled in the legislature/council/board.
• Considered by parliamentary committee(s).
• Parliament votes on Supply. Council approves budget.
Execution/implementation stage
• Funds apportioned to departments to implement activities.
• Central financial controller monitors spending – more or less.
• Request for legislative approval of adjustment budget if necessary – Supplementaries.
• Fiscal risks are inherent in a changing economic environment – purpose of contingency reserves.
• In-year adjustment decisions should be transparent and thoroughly scrutinized.
Audit stage
• Supreme audit institution assesses departmental accounts and performance.
• Audit reports should be published promptly and submitted to parliament.
• We will look at this stage in more detail in a later session.
Factors That Undermine Fiscal Discipline
Unrealistic Constraints
When totals are selected for political reasons, without regard to their achievability, they may weaken fiscal discipline.
Unrealistic Budgets
Some governments (especially in poor countries) adopt budgets that that purport to show fiscal discipline but have little to no possibility of being implemented.
Entitlements When citizens have a legal right to payments from the government regardless of budget conditions, it may be difficult to stay within fiscal targets.
Contingent Liabilities
The cost of contingent liabilities often is underestimated when the government accepts the risk (such as guaranteeing loans or the performance of enterprises). When the cost comes due (because of default or other contingency) it is not controllable through ordinary budget means.
Perverse incentivesSpenders have incentive to use all the resources provided them; if they don’t, they risk cuts in the next budget
Information asymmetryService providers know more about outputs and costs than do those who allocate resources: To get more money, providers manipulate or withhold information from superiors
RigidityManagers have no opportunity to use their skills and information to improve efficiency
Compliance costsDetailed, ex ante controls are costly and drive out initiative and variation
Budget maximizing behaviorInasmuch as government must pay whatever it costs to operate its programs, inefficient producers are rewarded with bigger budgets
CaptureGovernment is captured by service providers: it lacks independent information on performance and must purchase services from them
Factors that Degrade Operational Efficiency
Practices that Strengthen Fiscal Discipline
• Targets should reflect political commitments made by government leaders.
• Targets must be realistic and achievable.• Targets should be set and enforced within a
medium-term fiscal framework.• Limits on aggregates should be supported by
sub-targets on sector/portfolios.• Fiscal constraints should cover mandatory
spending.
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