Discussion 1
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the articles Who Needs Budgets? (Links to an external site.), Traditional Budgeting vs. Beyond Budgeting (Links to an external site.) in the Financial Planning page of the CFO Edge website, and Traditional Budgeting Versus Beyond Budgeting: A Literature Review (Links to an external site.).
In the words of GE’s legendary ex-CEO Jack Welch, Jack Welch, “The budgeting process at most companies has to be the most ineffective practice in management. It sucks the energy, time, fun, and big dreams out of an organization (…) [and] brings out the most unproductive behaviors (…)” (Welch & Welch, 2005, p. 189).
Some argue that the purposes of budgeting can be achieved without the conventional budgeting process. These companies espouse an idea called beyond budgeting that proposes to replace annual budgets with rolling forecasts of key performance indicators (Hope & Fraser, 2003). Others disagree, pointing out that the work of continuous planning is costlier than budgeting and that doing something continuously tends to make the process superficial.
So, the jury is still out. But so far, GE still prepares budgets! Discuss in an initial post of 200 words whether the controversial concept of beyond budgeting is a better approach for financial planning and analysis (FP&A) than traditional budgeting.
Guided Response: Review several of your peers’ posts. In a post of at least 100 words, respond to at least two of your peers’ posts in a substantive manner. Provide information that they may have missed or may not have considered about whether traditional or alternative budgeting methods are better and have a positive impact on businesses, or which has more practical usefulness. Do you agree with your peers findings? Why or why not?
Discussion 2
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the Budget of the United States Government (Links to an external site.).
Congress is responsible for creating the federal government’s annual budget. For agencies and their programs to be funded, Congressional authorization committees must pass, and the President must sign, all 12 authorization bills by September 30—the last day of the current fiscal year—so the country can have a new budget in time for the start of the next fiscal year (USA.gov, n.d.).
Access the Government Publishing Office (Links to an external site.) to obtain Historical Budgetary Tables following the steps below:
Your initial post must be a minimum of 200 words
Guided Response: Review several of your peer’s posts. In each response post of at least 100 words, respond to at least two of your peers’ posts in a substantive manner. Provide information that they may have missed or may not have considered about the 2018 President’s Budget. Do you agree with your peers’ findings? Why or why not?