Chapter 17: Budgeting
Description:
A budget is a formalised planning tool used by management to compare expected revenues with expected expenses for the year (Finkler & Kovner2000). The objective of budgeting is to maximise organisational resources to meet short-term and long-term goals (Marquis & Huston 2003). A budget is therefore a written financial plan that aims to control resources (Huber 2000).
The preparation of a budget ensures that managers plan ahead and forecast the future—anticipating changes that will affect the organisation so that action plans can be formulated accordingly. For example, a decreasing birthrate is likely to lead to an overall decrease in patient days in the maternity wards. A budget can (and should) be used by managers to motivate themselves and their staff to work positively meeting their organisation’s goals.
Topics:
- Introduction
- Budgeting concepts in health care
- Types of budgets
- Capital budgets
- Operating budgets
- Personnel budgets
- The budget process
- Variance analysis
- Current issues and future directions
- Conclusion
- References
Speaker/ Author:
Rita Gan
Rita obtained a master’s degree in nursing (specialising in education) from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and a degree in psychology from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Rita has had extensive experience at Parkway Health (Singapore) as a registered nurse, registered midwife and nurse educator. As head of education and training, she has had a leadership role at Parkway Health for more than 15 years, and in 2000 Singapore’s National Training Award was conferred on a Parkway hospital in recognition of best practices in people development and training. Her passion for education comprises leadership and educational development, mentoring, coaching and effective communication skills. Rita strives for a holistic approach to life and work; she loves music, plays the guitar, enjoys her friends and practises yoga: ‘I wish to be a place of light and warmth for others’.
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