Many Russian companies know first-hand what budgeting is. However, when it comes to monitoring budget execution and analyzing it, most firms are faced with many questions: how to carry out control, who should do it, how to evaluate deviations that have arisen.

The concept of budgetary control is based on two concepts: plan and fact. The purpose of monitoring and analyzing the implementation of planned budget indicators is to manage deviations that affect financial results. In the process of control, the budget controller, firstly, collects, processes and analyzes information about the actual results of financial and economic activities. Secondly, it identifies deviations from planned values ​​and analyzes their causes. Thirdly, makes management decisions to adjust plans and budgets in permissible cases.

To carry out these functions, it is important to establish an effective control system.

Proven Methods

A company may implement many different methods of budget control. Many of them are highly specialized and quite complex (for example, the “earned value” method for assessing project budget execution). We will focus on two generally accepted methods:

• control of budgets based on deviations;
• operational control of payments (treasury control).

A company's budget is a financial plan of action to achieve profitability. Therefore, the basis of the control system should be cost control. To implement it, a calculation of deviations is used, during which:

• identify deviations based on management accounting data (if the homogeneity of planned and actual data is ensured);
• evaluate deviations from the point of view of their impact on the planned result;
• determine the nature of deviations (for example, regular or random) and their causes, which can be either internal or associated with unforeseen changes in external conditions;
• prepare recommendations and possible management decisions based on deviation analysis.

These functions are usually performed by financial and economic services: the economic planning department or the budget planning department (depending on the organizational structure of the enterprise).

To identify deviations, specialists from the financial and economic service compare actual and planned data item by item. And in order to assess the impact of deviations on the planned result, they use the calculation of the share of individual items. The example (see table) shows the calculation of deviations of actual values ​​from planned ones: for income items (sales of goods) the formula “fact” - “plan” is used, for expense items the formula “plan” - “fact” is used.

We see that the company received 50,000 rubles less profit than planned. To determine the impact of income and expense items on this deviation, you need to calculate the specific gravity using the formula:

(“deviation by item” / “deviation by profit”) x 100%

In the "Variance" column, we received data that suggests that the actual profit received is 25 percent lower than planned. This, in turn, is 60 percent due to the fact (column “Share”) that fixed costs have increased. And, accordingly, by 40 percent - due to the fact that sales have decreased.

Based on these calculations, a specialist from the financial and economic service prepares an analytical note on recommendations for correcting the current situation in the next reporting period. For example, according to these calculations, an enterprise needs to increase sales by 20,000 rubles and reduce expenses under the item “Security” by 10,000 rubles, and under the item “Wages” - by 30,000 rubles. At the same time, the company has a reserve of 10,000 rubles for additional rental costs.

Deviation control by its nature is “control after the transaction has occurred.” It is not able to prevent a single fact of financial and economic activity that leads to an unfavorable change. But it is effective over long budget periods if carried out on a regular basis. That is, by controlling deviations that arise in monthly budgets, you can make management decisions in time and align the indicators for the year. For example, based on the results of nine months, a company receives data on overspending of funds under the items “Consumables” and “Advertising”. Accordingly, it is necessary to make adjustments to the 4th quarter budget: reduce expenses on relevant items by setting strict limits or control of treasury budget execution. As a result, this will eliminate the excess that has arisen.

Deviation assessment and analysis

Before performing a variance analysis of budget items or indicators, it is necessary to determine which variances are primarily important. For example, there is no need for a company to analyze the deviation of such an indicator as the exchange rate - this is an external environment that is not controlled by the enterprise. And, on the contrary, the indicators “production cost” or “product sales cost” can be controlled. To do this, it is enough to determine the cost structure. Next, you need to determine the limit of permissible deviations. As a rule, it is set as a percentage of the planned value. The magnitude of these deviations can reach 10 percent, but on average varies at the level of three to five percent. Determining the limit is a rather subjective assessment. As a rule, companies are guided by the relative weight of this article. If the share of the “Salaries” item is 30 percent of all costs, then the planning will be more accurate and the limit of permissible deviations will be 0.5-1 percent. When planning, for example, office expenses that make up 0.05-0.1 percent of total costs, the deviation limit can be set at 5-10 percent.

Budget execution control and analysis are usually carried out by economic planning services. To analyze budget execution, such types of analysis as ranking, factor analysis, plan-fact analysis and others are used.

Ranking is used when it is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis of functional centers of responsibility, business units, branches, etc. according to budget items. At the same time, the most profitable and/or most unprofitable divisions or areas of activity are identified. For example, ranking is effectively used when comparing sales budgets across branches.

Factor analysis is intended to identify factors that influenced changes in the values ​​of the analyzed budget items or indicators. With this type of analysis, it is possible, for example, to determine the impact of each branch on the total amount of sales of goods and services. The essence of factor analysis is to determine the cause of deviations in indicators and develop recommendations for eliminating them. Above we looked at an example of identifying deviations from the planned result. The share of each item in the overall change in the financial result was determined. Thus, we conducted a factor analysis.

Plan-actual analysis can be carried out both for all main and for individual operating budgets. Its main goal is to identify the causes of deviations, namely, which of the indicators, budget items, and scenario conditions influenced the execution of the company’s budget.

The methods presented are simple and effective in assessing deviations, which is why most Russian companies use them.

Treasury control

An essential component of the control system is control of treasury budget execution. That is, control of the receipt and expenditure of funds that are planned in the cash flow budget.

Operational control of the cash flow budget is usually carried out by the budget controller. He, guided by the approved cash limits, determines budget items for financing above-plan expenses. The financial controller evaluates each incoming application for settlements and determines whether it exceeds the limit for the corresponding budget item. Exceeding the limits in the budget period may only be permitted by special order of an authorized official. This is usually the CFO or CEO. But when it comes to the redistribution of expenses between various budget items, these powers, as a rule, are assigned to the financial controllers themselves.

Treasury control is very often used in holdings, where the management company manages the funds of the branches. The branches themselves only initiate the payment, and the financial department of the parent company compares its amount with the data included in the budget. And after that he makes a decision about payment.

Example

Branches of one gold mining company located in different regions do not manage funds, with the exception of paying wages to staff. All other expenses are paid by the parent company located in Moscow. The existing treasury control system regulates all cash flow operations. But at the same time, it has sufficient flexibility and provides the ability to redistribute cash flows, if necessary, between various branches or budget items of expenditure. The system allows you to increase the efficiency of using the company's funds. For example, when at one of the branches there is a need to pay for unplanned equipment repair work, the company does not have to take out additional loans.

However, it is worth noting that this technique is not always effective. A typical mistake with this type of control is rigidly setting limits on all items and a poorly-functioning system for adjusting the budget. In such cases, the enterprise lacks flexibility and is unable to quickly respond to changes. Businesses should take this into account.

Example

Thus, the budget of one metallurgical plant strictly regulated the costs of writing off technological materials for production. The purchase of these materials was calculated based on the planned write-off amount. Then production technology changed. In this regard, there was a need to increase consumption rates and purchase more expensive technological materials. At the same time, production volume had to remain at the same level. The amount specified in the application for the purchase of materials was significantly higher than established. Therefore, the financial controller, guided by planned data, reduced it. After all, adjustments to purchasing costs were allowed only in the event of an increase in production volume. As a result, this led to a decrease in production volumes in the next reporting period.

Budgeting is one of the most important elements of management accounting, the main tasks of which are drawing up preliminary budgets, promptly identifying deviations, factor analysis of the results obtained and searching for optimal options for management decisions.

Analysis of the company's budget execution is a comparison of actual results with planned ones and identifying the causes of deviations in natural, absolute and relative values.

A company that wants to succeed in competition, especially in conditions of economic instability, should pay special attention to the analysis of budget execution, as this makes it possible to reveal many problems in management, strengthen control over costs, and identify those responsible for performance results.

Budget analysis includes three stages:

Preliminary stage. The analysis is carried out at the stage of budget formation in order to substantiate the data.

Current (interim) stage. The analysis is carried out at the stage of budget execution. A set of preventive measures to identify unreasonable expenses and deviations. Making decisions about the need to adjust the budget or tighten control over budget execution.

The final stage. Analysis of deviations and the reasons for their occurrence is carried out based on the results of the period. Development of measures to minimize the impact of negative factors and consolidate positive ones in the future. Formation of conclusions and recommendations for the next planning period

Figure 1. Analysis of deviations using the example of the software product “WA: Financier”.

Deviation analysis, aimed at developing management decisions and tactics, involves a detailed analysis that reflects the determination of the degree of influence of various factors on performance indicators. The methodology for conducting factor analysis is as follows:

• The general deviation of the final indicator from the planned one is determined;
• A direct relationship is formed between the factors and the final indicator;
• The relationship between factors and outcome indicators is modeled;
• Factors are ranked by degree of influence;
• The role of each of them in changing the final indicator is analyzed and assessed.
• Conclusions and recommendations are formulated regarding management decisions aimed at executing or adjusting the budget.

Deviation analysis at all stages should take into account both the current and strategic plans of the company. Plan fact analysis of budget execution of income and expenses can be carried out, for example, both for the company as a whole and for individual structural divisions, regions, and projects.

Figure 2. Analysis of deviations using the example of the software product “WA: Financier”.

Plan-actual analysis of the budget using the example of the WA system: The financier allows you to assess deviations in absolute and relative terms by comparing the indicators planned in the budgets with the actual results in any analytical sections.

Thus, budget analysis helps identify problems, highlights existing opportunities, facilitates decision making and coordination of activities between company departments.

The introduction of a system for analysis and control of budget execution at an enterprise requires a difference in the content and goals of the procedure for current analysis and control of budget execution and final control and analysis. The basis within the budget process is current control, since management influence based on the results of control activities should be carried out in a timely and regular manner. Final analysis and control important for adjustments to strategic indicators and for making changes to the methodological basis of the budget process. To analyze budget execution, first of all, you should determine a list of management reports, which involves deciding which forms of management reporting are mandatory for each central financial district, as well as in what time frame and how often they are provided to management. Reports for analysis can be compiled for all types of activities of the Central Federal District and can cover certain sections, topics, budget items and performance indicators.

In addition to regular reports, reports can be compiled as significant deviations occur (thematic), as well as upon request (analytical).

There are different levels of management: operational, current and summary reports.

Operational reports are compiled at a lower level in the Central Federal District and contain detailed information in daily, weekly and monthly sections. Current reports are compiled in profit and investment centers with a frequency ranging from monthly to quarterly reports and contain aggregated information. Summary reports are provided to the budget and investment committee for making strategic decisions and cover a period from a month to a year.

After developing the reporting forms, a list of indicators is compiled for conducting financial and economic analysis, the methodology for calculating and analyzing indicators and reports is described, as a rule, using the techniques of horizontal, vertical, trend and ratio analysis.

Deviation Analysis includes two directions:

Studying problems of a methodological nature, i.e. identifying incorrect formulas for calculating performance indicators, using unattainable standards, imperfect forms of planning and reporting documents, errors in planning the timing of tasks, etc.;

Monitoring the expenditure of resources in accordance with operating budgets and monitoring the expenditure of funds within the limits approved in the cash flow budget. Analysis of deviations is carried out by comparing planned (normative) indicators with actual results, while not all deviations require urgent management action, but only the most significant ones. The budget control procedure must provide a mechanism for determining the permissible limits of deviations, which includes an assessment of the normal deviation and the amount of excess of normal values, requiring management intervention. The value of the permissible limits of deviations depends on the specifics of the company’s activities, on the significance of the controlled budget item for assessing the activities of the responsibility center and other factors.

The main tools for analyzing deviations in resource consumption are rationing procedure And building a flexible budget. Variable costs of production responsibility centers are normalized. The basis for constructing a standard cost budget is technological standards.

The standards reflect the amount of costs based on the average purchase price of material resources, the tariff rate of workers and the rate of resource consumption per unit of product or type of work. So, the standard acts as an indicator that sets the target cost value for planning and controlling a certain budget item of the responsibility center, depending on the predicted physical or financial parameters of the company’s activities.

Depending on the volume of activity, variable costs change, but fixed costs remain unchanged. Using the following formula relating costs and output, budgets can be developed for different levels of business activity.

TS =V * Qfact +F

Where TS- general costs of the responsibility center; V - standard cost per unit of production; Qfact- number of products sold; F - fixed costs of the Central Federal District.

Flexible budget allows you to objectively assess the effectiveness of the cost center manager, since it eliminates the influence of market activity on the deviation of budget items and shows how rationally resources were used to achieve a certain level of sales. In the example presented in the table, with a cost standard of 90 rubles. per unit of production, the amount of actual variable costs compared to the initially budgeted amount decreased by 80,000 rubles, while a comparison with a flexible budget shows the opposite situation - an increase in actual costs by 100,000 rubles.

Table Calculation of flexible budget and deviations

Final cash flow analysis within the framework of budgeting, it consists, firstly, in calculating the main indicators of cash flow and comparing them with the values ​​​​presented in strategic plans, for example, identifying the dynamics of free cash flow by budget periods. Secondly, in determining the synchronicity and balance of cash flows and identifying the causes of cash shortages. Thirdly, in studying the structure of cash flow and clarifying the need for external financing of the planned activities of the enterprise. Fourthly, in establishing the size of deviations of actual indicators from the budgeted cash flows.

In general, the analysis should be subordinated to the study of factors influencing the increase in free cash flow as the main indicator of the effectiveness of strategic decisions, and to assessing the sufficiency of the level of liquidity in the process of carrying out the current activities of the enterprise.

Operational analysis and control of the execution of the cash flow budget is carried out by the treasury service by creating and executing a payment calendar, monitoring receivables and payables, and monitoring requests for payment. The operational analysis is based on:

Classification of payments according to the likelihood of their receipt, timing and priority of their implementation;

Establishing limits on expenses and payments for a number of items in the cash flow budgets of financial responsibility centers;

Calculation of the optimal cash balance in the company’s accounts;

Development of a mechanism for financing the cash deficit.

Payment calendar at all enterprises without exception, it is intended to create a schedule of daily receipts and payments of funds for a period of up to a month. Distribution of cash flows by day allows you to identify cash gaps in advance and determine sources of covering them, optimize the size of cash balances and formulate a priority order for payments. Cash gap - This is a short-term lack of funds for making payments, due to an imbalance in the timing of cash receipts and payments.

The control functions of the payment calendar are implemented through the procedure for processing and approving applications. This procedure assumes that only those expenses that were included in the cash flow budget are included in the payment calendar. To do this, the application indicates: the amount that must be received according to the BDDS; the amount that has already been received; the amount of balances for this item.

If the entire limit for an item is exhausted, the treasurer rejects the application. For a situation where it is impossible to reject an application due to the significance of this expense item, it is required to have an action algorithm that includes an analysis of the significance of payments and determining the size of the deviation. The algorithm for taking actions in the event of a cash shortage is usually described in the regulations for the cash control procedure, which stipulates the permissible limit of deviations by item and the sources of funding corresponding to the size of the deviation and the budget item. For certain expenses, the Treasury sets a percentage of deviations, within which a decision is allowed at the level of the responsibility center initiating the payment. In this case, the source of financing may be a reduction in funding for other expenses of the responsibility center, or a decision is made to postpone the payment deadlines. If the percentage of deviation exceeds the permissible limit, then the decision is made at the treasury level or at the level of the budget and investment committee. Funds for financing are then sought from centralized reserves created by the company, bank loans, and free funds of other holding companies. In any case, the application for payment must be approved by all levels of responsibility.

First-priority payments usually include the most urgent payments, the delay of which will entail serious sanctions, namely taxes and interest on loans. Payments of the second stage can be made with a slight delay, while enterprises limit the period for which the payment can be postponed, most often by three days. The third priority includes payments, the execution of which can be postponed for a long period or the amount of payments reduced without any particular damage to the company.

The controlled amount of the cash balance is calculated using an analytical method at the level of a certain percentage of the average daily turnover. If it is possible to clearly formulate the initial premises and parameters, the Baumol model can be used.

A great effect is achieved from controlling the cash balance of a group of enterprises when implementing a centralized treasury system, when company income is accumulated in a single account and full control over their expenses is exercised. Thanks to this approach, the number of accounts is reduced, the costs of cash management services are reduced, the need for external financing is reduced and the capital structure is optimized.

In general, control over the execution of the budget of income and expenses and the cash flow budget fully achieves its goals, being integrated into a unified financial controlling system that coordinates the formation of an information base, financial analysis, financial planning and control in such a way as to provide the management of the enterprise with the necessary mechanism for making strategic and tactical decisions.

The budgeting process should be accompanied by feedback. The processes of budget control and analysis serve as feedback. Budget control includes the following operations:

• budget execution control;
• identifying deviations by item;
• analysis of the reasons that caused deviations;
• development of measures to optimize budget implementation;
• making necessary management decisions.

Let's look at the key points that a budget controller should take into account when working with the budget.

DEVIATIONS

Control of simple and complex budgets begins with the calculation of deviations (Table 1). Deviations always occur, since the budget is a set of planned indicators. At this stage count on:

• absolute deviations. The absolute deviation is understood as the difference between the actual and planned value with the corresponding sign according to the rules of formal mathematics (columns 7, 10 of Table 1);
• relative deviations(columns 8, 11 of Table 1). Such deviations are more informative and are expressed as a percentage of the analyzed value. Absolute and relative deviations complement each other;
• cumulative deviations. In this case, the difference between the cumulative indicators is found. The cumulative indicator is an amount calculated on an accrual basis.

Cumulative deviation allows you to assess the degree of plan fulfillment for a quarter, half a year and the possible difference by the end of the budget period (year).

Random fluctuations in budget indicators that occur in certain periods can lead to significant deviations in a short period of time, and during the budget year the fluctuations can be insignificant. Cumulation allows you to compensate for random deviations and more accurately identify the trend;

• selective deviations. The calculation of these deviations involves comparing the values ​​of a certain time interval. It is assumed that the controlled values ​​will be compared over time: quarter, month or day.

Comparison of controllable values ​​for a certain month of the current year with the same month of the previous year (for example, the item “Marketing expenses” in January 2016 and in January 2015) can be more informative comparison with the previous month of the planning period under consideration.

The method of calculating selective deviations is used to identify and control the reasons for changes in budget indicators, characterized by a seasonal factor. Sometimes, to calculate selective deviations, they take not the last year, but another base period (for example, the first year when budgeting was carried out, the pre-crisis or post-crisis period).

In Table 1, selective deviations are reflected in columns 10 and 11. They show that compared to the fourth quarter. 2014 in the reporting quarter, the budget for material costs for equipment repairs increased by 121 thousand. rub. (14.09%). At the same time, the amount of costs by budget item differs significantly. For example, for electrodes we see a reduction in costs by 800 rubles. (6.67%), for hardware - an increase in costs by 700 rubles. (25%).

PLEASE NOTE

Control calculations of deviations do not save you from overexpenditures and budget distortions, but they allow you to make management decisions to level out overexpenditures in the future.

It is best to request a detailed description of the reasons and directions of deviations from the heads of departments responsible for budget items.

WE ASSESS DEVIATIONS

Let’s assume that plan-actual calculations have been made for the budget (more than 200 items) and deviations have been identified. In this situation, there is no need to blame economists for an illiterate budget or department employees for the incorrectness of the data provided. It is important to approach the issue of assessment and analysis of deviations correctly.

When working with deviations, the question often arises: “Is it necessary to conduct an assessment and control analysis of absolutely all identified deviations?” Experienced financial specialists will answer this question negatively and will work in the following areas:

1. Assessment and analysis of deviations that have exceeded a certain limit.

The limit must be approved by the general director. Limits are set in absolute values ​​or percentages. It is recommended to set limits depending on the amount being analyzed (the planned value of the indicator) (Table 2).

Sometimes, for savings, a wider limit is set (for example, for the gradation indicated in Table 2: 20, 10, 5 and 2%, respectively), and for overexpenditure on an item - within a more stringent framework.

EXAMPLE 1

Under the item “Payment of warehouse personnel” in the second half of 2015, 800 thousand rubles were planned, the actual amount was 860 thousand rubles. Deviation - 60 thousand rubles, or 7,5 % . Guided by the third limit according to table. 2, it can be understood that the deviation exceeds the established limit. This means that it is necessary to determine the factors that caused this deviation.

EXAMPLE 2

9,500 rubles were planned to provide employees with drinking water, but 10,300 rubles were actually spent. Deviation - 800 rub. ( 8,4 % ), which fits into the first limit (see Table 2). Further elaboration of this figure is not necessary.

If we look at the example of Production LLC, then the budget items “Ball valves” and “Oxygen” according to table. 2 fits into the limit. Deviations for them do not exceed 10%; they do not require thorough study.

2. Working with deviations, the value of which is significant compared to the final budget amount.

Let’s assume that the budget for the purchase of basic materials is 1020 thousand rubles, the deviation for the item “Metal” is 147 thousand rubles, or 14.4% of the total budget. This is a big number, you need to find the reasons for this deviation (increase in prices from suppliers, incorrect technological standards, etc.).

It is advisable to pre-approve the percentage of deviations (Table 3).

The budget for material costs for repairs for Production LLC contains 88 items (see Table 1), the permissible percentage of deviations compared to the total amount is 5%.

The biggest savings in the amount of 160 thousand rubles. observed under the article “Bearings”, which amounts to 16,84 % (160 thousand rubles / 950 thousand rubles × 100%), that is, it significantly exceeds the permissible amount and requires clarification of the situation.

Another significant deviation is an overexpenditure of 19 thousand rubles. (76%) under the article “Rubber cuffs” - fits into the 5% limit (19 thousand rubles / 950 thousand rubles × 100% = 2%). From the point of view of weight for the final indicator, this is not so significant, but this article cannot be set aside without analysis, since overspending 76 % does not fit into the limit established in the table. 2.

3. Expert assessment of deviations.

The method does not require complex calculations; deviation limits are set based on expert opinion. The experts are the heads of departments responsible for a particular operating budget. The accuracy of the deviation limits determined in this way is quite low and subjective.

Expert assessment method it is advisable to use in companies that produce single or small-scale products, implement new projects, conduct research and development work, as well as in construction companies. This assessment method is in demand in cases where there is no data for previous periods.

PLEASE NOTE

Department heads are interested in ensuring that the deviation limits approved by the company are as wide as possible. This will allow officials to relieve themselves of responsibility for failure to fulfill their plans and tasks.

A situation where the accepted limits of deviations are extremely narrow has a weak control function. As a result, when carrying out a plan-fact analysis, most of the budget items will go off scale in terms of deviations and require management decisions, although in fact only for a few of them the deviations will be truly significant. It is clear that the labor costs of experienced economists, experts and managers will be wasted.

Working with deviations aimed at subsequent management decisions requires a more detailed factor analysis the influence of various parameters on key indicators (profit, cash flow, etc.).

Technology carrying out such control looks like this:

1. Identification of factors that influence the value of the final indicator.

2. Determination of the total deviation of the final indicator from the planned budget value.

3. Determination of the deviation of the final indicator as a result of the deviation of each individual factor.

4. Determining the priorities of the influence of individual factors on the value of the final indicator.

REPORTING OF DEVIATIONS

Deviation reporting is a core element of the control system. For certain indicators (for example, receipt of sales revenue) reporting is generated daily, for others - weekly and monthly. It all depends on the nature of the controlled indicators.

Data on deviations are presented to management in the form of notices or reports. Deviation reports must be visual. When compiling a report, you can highlight in color indicators that have a significant deviation from the plan. The choice of color should be determined by the magnitude of the deviations: positive deviations are highlighted in green, negative ones in red, and values ​​close to the limits are highlighted in orange. Values ​​within normal limits are not highlighted.

Coloring will allow the manager to quickly assess the current situation in the company and focus on indicators that have negative trends .

Another option for preparing a report is “speedometer” type diagrams with sectors “Normal”, “Below”, “Above”, where the position of the virtual arrow indicates the status of the indicator. Such charts are common in sales: sales managers display them on the monitor screen and track indicators in real time.

It would be advisable to develop deviation control regulations. The regulations must contain:

• description of the methodology for monitoring deviations. Such a methodology should be transparent and understandable not only for the PEO, but also for other departments (production, sales);
• a form of notification (report) of deviations, which is more visual and effective than making notes in standard reports. It is possible to develop systems of “speedometers” and “traffic lights” for key indicators. An example of a “traffic light” for accounts payable and receivable: a payment delay of three days is highlighted in orange, more than ten days - in red;
• deadlines and procedure for submitting reports;
• feedback procedure (additional analytical information from an economist may be required);
• identification of officials responsible for making decisions;
• deadlines for making decisions on identified deviations.

PLEASE NOTE

Managing and dealing with variances is part of the management and budget process. Deviations of actual results from planned ones become the subject of operational or strategic meetings (at the level of middle managers and at the level of top management, respectively). During the meetings, the activities of the enterprise are analyzed in detail and all the factors that caused the greatest deviations, and the necessary management decisions are developed.

IS THE PLAN REALISTIC?

Budget execution control is not always carried out by the employees who compiled it. There are situations when serious deviations force the specialists who adopted the budget to double-check the validity of the planned values.

Unrealism, errors or the desire to embellish in practice look like this:

1. The CEO and owners of the company want to see profits grow by 25%. For objective reasons (market decline, fierce competition, high costs), the company can give 15% under constant conditions. Heads of departments enter numbers, which will suit top managers and owners, while they were required to develop a set of measures to increase sales and reduce costs.

2. The sales budget is not based on market forecasts, but is justified by the commissioning of new equipment. It happens that the situation gets worse when the investment budget has not yet been drawn up or, due to lack of funds, they decided to abandon the investment program, but at the same time the sales budget was not adjusted.

3. The budget was formed based on last year's figures, adjusted for the inflation index and growth rate. At the same time did not take into account essential conditions that occurred during the current year (staffing, cost structure, contractual terms of working with clients have changed).

4. You may encounter a situation where it is not possible to double-check the calculations and the validity of the figures included in the budget. There were calculations, but they disappeared somewhere. Nobody remembers why this particular figure was entered or why adjustments were made. In this case, there is no need to talk about the correctness of the planned value; it is not possible to control deviations.

For this kind of problematic items, there is only one direction of control left - to check whether there was really a need for expenses. If these are materials, they check their availability in the warehouse, in the workshop, and control their reflection in the cost of production.

To prevent such situations from arising, employees responsible for generating figures in the budget must ensure not only the availability of documents and calculations confirming the provision of data to the budget, but also prompt access to them by monitoring specialists.

Budget controller should check following:

• budget forms are filled out completely, with the required level of detail;
• All necessary explanations, forecasts, transcripts, and calculations are attached to the income and expense items.

The plan must be signed by all officials responsible for its preparation and approval.

The condition ensuring the possibility of such control: presence of budget regulations in the company,budgeting provisions, where all planned parameters are clearly recorded.

5. Companies that have a branch structure may face a situation where the head office enters into a service agreement for all territorial divisions and each branch enters into a similar agreement with a regional supplier. As a result, costs will double. For geographically distributed companies, monitoring for such “duplications” is important.

6. The budget controller needs to make sure that the figures presented in the budget comply with approved standards (for example, standards for the consumption of raw materials, fuels and lubricants). He must check whether employees have exceeded the mobile communication limit. Important to know who developed and approved the norms and when, what internal and external factors were involved, how long ago the norms were revised.

OPERATIONAL CONTROL DURING BUDGET EXECUTION

If financial specialists adopted the budget, for example, on January 10, and six months later decided to carry out control, then many deviations will immediately become apparent. To avoid such a situation, you need to organize proper daily control of budget execution.

At the stage of implementing budgeting systems, the process of budgeting and the process of accumulating actual data should be regulated. Actual data is always in the management information system, but each amount of expense/income is important identify with the budget item. When reflecting business transactions, it is necessary to indicate not only the mandatory legislative details, but also the budget item to which this or that primary document relates. Each actual operation must contain an additional feature - budget item number.

The budget item is indicated on the document by its originator/recipient, and the item must be confirmed by the PEO economist.

The figure shows a mechanism for monitoring requests for payment, the costs of which are planned by the budget.

The interaction diagram presented in the figure allows you to operational cost control, and also avoid a situation where actual expenses are adjusted to budget items. An example of such adjustment: when concluding contracts and paying bills that are not provided for in the budget, the head of the department presents these expenses as planned, indicating the numbers of the items for which funding is planned or has not yet been exhausted. Accounting, when distributing such expenses, pays attention only to the legality of the transaction, but not to the economic meaning, blindly entering the items indicated by the head of the department.

The situation described in the example occurs if the enterprise does not have a PEO or its employees are busy with another area of ​​work (not budget control). This happens when “treasurers” accept applications and documents for payment without a PEO visa, ignoring economists as specialists in the field of control. In this case, no variance analysis will provide adequate control.

THIS IS IMPORTANT

It is necessary to prohibit employees of the treasury (financial department) from accepting bills as payment if they do not have a PEO employee visa and the classification of expenses (numbers, codes of budget items) is not indicated. At the same time, PEO employees need to be ensured independence; they should not be subject to pressure from department directors and department heads.

CONTRACT CONTROL

The financial department or PEO must participate in the contract approval procedure. Imagine the situation. The head of the supply department signed an agreement for the supply of spare parts in the amount of 400 thousand rubles, although such expenses are not provided for in the budget, submitted an order to the supplier (settlement procedure - prepayment) or, even worse, has already received spare parts, signed an invoice (settlement procedure - deferment) . As a result, the financial department is faced with a fact: pay or put the company at risk of penalties. That's one problem. The second problem: if such an agreement is paid, then a shortage of funds may arise and the financial department will not pay an important payment provided for in the budget and properly planned.

Such emergency and risky situations can be avoided if the procedure for concluding and signing contracts is strictly regulated. Must act rule: The general director does not endorse the contract if there is no budget control in the contract approval sheet.

What should be the budgetary control of contracts? We do not take into account the usual approval committee (legal adviser, accountant, etc.). The approval sheet must indicate:

• subject of the contract (direction of expenses and a brief description of what exactly is planned to be purchased);
• code and name of the budget item (put down by the employee of the financial department or PEO who controls the budget);
• the balance of the limit for the item at the time the agreement is agreed upon, taking into account upcoming payments under the agreement;
• signature and full name of the official who entered the budget classification and the balance of the limit.

It is difficult to control the expenditure of funds by monitoring contracts. The difficulty lies in the fact that often framework agreements are signed, and specific quantities of supplies are then agreed upon by the parties in applications and specifications, of which there may be two or twenty-two. The solution is to insist on concluding contracts with a clearly fixed amount. However, there is a possibility that an additional agreement to the contract will be concluded and the amount will increase. Therefore, it is necessary to apply other controls: all documents that change the text of the signed and agreed upon agreement (additional agreements, appendices, specifications) undergo a similar approval procedure.

It is difficult to perform budgetary control of contracts that last longer than a calendar year. Therefore, it is necessary to insist that the duration of the contract be calendar year, and configure the contract accounting program in such a way that it allows you to control budget amounts.

STRATEGIC CONTROL

Budget controllers, in addition to the usual plan-factual and executive control, must also carry out strategic control.

NOTICE

Monitoring the budget for compliance with the strategy must be carried out both at the stage of budget planning and during budget execution and actual expenses/income.

PEO economists must be empowered not accepted for approval from structural divisions budgets that do not correspond to the strategic goals of the company.

EXAMPLE 3

In the context of the crisis and falling sales, Company A adopted a strategy for the budget year to reduce expenses by 30%. At the same time, the sales department plans to update office furniture in its budget. In this case, the head of the PEO should have the right not to sign the budget and return it to the sales department to exclude the specified item.

EXAMPLE 4

Company “B” has adopted a strategy to increase sales volume, but neither the sales department nor the personnel department plans to spend on recruiting new “salespeople” or training both existing and new employees in the field of active sales. No extensive promotional activities are planned. This situation is a signal not only to return the specified budget to its compiler, but also to report to the general director (owners) about ignoring strategic plans by individual structural divisions.

The examples given concerned the control of strategic goals during budget planning. Let's consider an example of strategic control of the budget during its actual execution.

EXAMPLE 5

Company “C” planned to build a new electrical substation in 2015, which would save more than a million rubles a year. The company's strategy is to reduce the cost of finished products by 10%. Due to financial difficulties at the beginning of the year, expenditures on almost all budget items were reduced. Delaying the construction of the substation and its commissioning would mean unnecessary energy costs for the enterprise, which can be avoided. PEO economists replanned the budget so that the cost items associated with the construction of a strategic facility were fully financed. Less "strategic" articles were trimmed. As a result, at the end of the year the company received its first savings in electricity costs.

CONTROL OF TRANSFERS BETWEEN ARTICLES

Heads of structural divisions often insist on transferring planned expenses from one item to another, arguing that there is a reserve in their budget.

PLEASE NOTE

If transfers between budget items become common practice, then it will be problematic to see the real state of affairs and carry out proper control.

In the face of rapidly changing market conditions, the company's Budget Committee must be flexible in its spending. In the process of budget execution acceptable, and sometimes necessary transfer funding between items. There should be strict regulations in this regard. It is necessary to identify items for which it is unacceptable to make transfers, and items for which the planned funds, if necessary, can be directed to more pressing goals. The important thing to remember here is strategic control. It is necessary to maintain an Adjustment Log - a single document in which the dates of the decision to transfer, responsible persons, reasons, article numbers and amounts from where funds were redirected must be recorded. .

ACCOUNTING SYSTEM CONTROL

When working with a budget, you must remember that this is a confidential document containing trade secrets. For example, the head of the business department does not need to know how much is planned for the purchase of the director’s chair, not to mention such data as sales volume and profit.

Basic requirements for accounting systems used in budgeting:

• protection against unauthorized access;
• protection against system errors;
• ensuring the reliability of data, both planned and actual;
• providing the necessary analytics (the ability to draw up a plan and fact, conduct various types of analysis, sort data);
• a unified base of business transactions for accounting, tax and management accounting, that is, one-time data entry. The less data is exported and imported from one system to another (so-called transfers), the less likely there are errors, data inconsistencies, duplicates, and the more transparent the system operates.

CONTROL THROUGH MOTIVATION

It is impossible to ensure constant control of budget processes only through control measures. The completeness of budget execution control will be ensured by motivating employees to achieve planned targets.

Requirements for the motivation system:

1. The motivation system must be clear so that specialists responsible for fulfilling the planned amounts for budget items can independently determine the amount of their wages for achieving the plan indicators.

2. The motivation system must be implemented simultaneously with the planning process. Planning officials should be motivated to develop budgets that are as close to reality as possible, rather than being guided by the principle that “paper will do.”

3. The bonus system should not encourage employees to deliberately underestimate targets in order to then exceed them and receive increased remuneration.

4. Every employee of the company needs to be interested in increasing efficiency. For example, it is impossible to imagine fulfilling the sales budget when sales managers actively attract customers, develop programs that stimulate sales, while the warehouse of finished products and the company’s delivery service slow down work, do not ensure timely shipment of products to customers, and make mistakes in the nomenclature of shipped goods . Clients will not work with such a company, they will easily find a replacement for it, and the sales budget will not be met.

The budget controller must double-check whether the employee motivation system meets the specified requirements.

BUDGET QUALITY CONTROL

It is important to control the quality of planned income and expenses. Control involves a detailed analysis of each budget item, verification of calculations and justifications provided by structural units.

The PEO economist, who controls the quality of planning, must put himself in the place of the head of the corresponding department and plan the expenses of such a department from scratch, using logic, which can be seen in the calculations and explanations of the head. The controller needs to ensure that all factors and conditions are taken into account. This is a large amount of information and work in general, but such control will help identify system errors.

1. Argue and defend your own positions.

2. Even a highly qualified specialist will not be able to control absolutely all budget items in a quality manner, so first of all, pay attention to the most significant items of income and expenses, strategic items.

3. An economist responsible for budget control functions should never trust the “word of honor” of department employees; it is important to be guided by the rule “Trust, but verify.”

Conclusions:

1. Most company budgets are prepared for various periods (month, quarter, year). At this frequency, it is necessary to monitor their implementation.
2. Effective management is based on a system for planning the company's activities and monitoring the execution of developed budgets. The main control tool is to identify deviations of actually achieved indicators from planned ones.

It is not necessary for the financial director to track the execution of each of the hundreds of lines of the company's budget; this is irrational. It is better to select the main indicators that require attention and best characterize the implementation of the financial plan. Below are recommendations on what criteria are best for choosing such benchmarks.

To make it easier budget execution assessment and reduce the time for its implementation, you can reduce the number of analyzed indicators. Limit yourself to those that need to be monitored without fail. It is convenient to divide them into groups:

• resulting indicators of the company's economic activity;
• strategic indicators;
• key indicators;
• indicators of items of expenses and income.

What budget execution indicators are considered to be the resultant activities of the company?

The group of resulting indicators of the company's economic activity includes revenue, cost of manufactured and sold products, net profit, main production indicators (volume and structure of output, percentage of completion of the production program, work in progress and finished products, etc.).

Their analysis at the end of the period will allow us to determine whether the results planned by the company were generally achieved (for information on how to evaluate, see). These indicators need to be considered by all enterprises, regardless of their type of activity, production and economic model, strategy, etc. For example, one of these indicators can be taken as profit before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization.

Formula. EBITDA calculation

What strategic indicators will help assess budget execution?

It is very important to keep indicators under control budget execution, reflecting the achievement of the company’s strategic goals (for more information on the formation of a system of benchmark indicators, see). For example, if it seeks to conquer new markets, then sales volume by market should be considered. If it is planned to expand production, then it is necessary to evaluate investments in expansion of production, the volume of products produced, including by type of production, etc.

What key indicators can you use to check budget execution?

What indicators of income and expense items should be assessed when checking budget execution?

You should pay attention to budget items that make up a significant portion of the company's total income or expenses. For example, you can establish a rule - those items whose weight is equal to at least 10 percent of income (expenses) are subject to control (for example, see). Using this principle, the company controls all budget items that are significant to it, without wasting time on “small things”.

If the values ​​for any items differ significantly from the planned ones, then the reasons for this should be found out and analyzed. The permissible amount of deviations is set by each company individually and can range from 20 percent and above (see how to visualize the assessment results).