NPR - A Budget Is Like A Marriage; You Have To Work On It To Make It Work (p252-256)

The key concept of this paper is to emphasize the simplicity and major importance of budgeting. It shows that the essence of good budgeting is changing the original budget as times change and that times invariably do change. It indicates that percentages are more useful than the numbers in a budget as these lead to trend analysis, firm understanding and informed discussions with parties interested in the progress of the firm. Finally it shows that the firm’s net income or its bottom line is not a lump sum but a fluid number that is mostly used up during the budgeted period. Like a marriage, a budget is always a work in progress

Key words: Budget, percentages of sales, net income, allocation, change