Budget Managment Analysis
Budget Management Analysis
Christina Hewett
University of Phoenix
Financial Resource Management
NUR/571
Ralph Gigliotti
August 03, 2013
Budget Management Analysis
“Finance should be a fundamental nursing administration content area to meet the growing need for nurse managers with core competencies in financial and budget management” (Finkler, Kovner, & Jones, 2007, p. 476). Health care organizations depend on nurse managers to budget the finances of his or her department appropriately. Budget management analysis includes evaluation of departmental and organizational financial concerns to include forecasting, benchmarking, and cost variance. The purpose of this paper is to determine specific strategies to manage budgets within forecasts and compare five expense results with budget expectations as well as describe possible reasons for variance. This paper will also provide three benchmarking techniques and identify those that may improve budget accuracy in future forecasts.
Managing Budgets within Forecasts
“Forecasting is an essential part of the budgeting process” (Finkler et al., 2007, p. 430). Determining specific strategies to manage budgets within forecasts is an instrumental facet of budget management analysis. “Forecasts prepared quickly and efficiently at its core not only gives companies the agility to manage as circumstances exchange unpredictably, it also takes less time, enables the implementation of robust incentive schemes and enhances corporate governance” (Sinister, 2009, p. 28). Forecasting is the nurse manager’s decisions about resource allocations for the coming year. For example, a nurse manager will forecast his or her resource allocations for 2014 during the current year of 2013. “Forecasting is a tool that helps in the preparation not only of the operating budget, but also of other budgets” (Finkler et al., 2007, p. 404).
One strategy that has become useful in managing budgets within forecasting is the use of computers to
Christina Hewett
University of Phoenix
Financial Resource Management
NUR/571
Ralph Gigliotti
August 03, 2013
Budget Management Analysis
“Finance should be a fundamental nursing administration content area to meet the growing need for nurse managers with core competencies in financial and budget management” (Finkler, Kovner, & Jones, 2007, p. 476). Health care organizations depend on nurse managers to budget the finances of his or her department appropriately. Budget management analysis includes evaluation of departmental and organizational financial concerns to include forecasting, benchmarking, and cost variance. The purpose of this paper is to determine specific strategies to manage budgets within forecasts and compare five expense results with budget expectations as well as describe possible reasons for variance. This paper will also provide three benchmarking techniques and identify those that may improve budget accuracy in future forecasts.
Managing Budgets within Forecasts
“Forecasting is an essential part of the budgeting process” (Finkler et al., 2007, p. 430). Determining specific strategies to manage budgets within forecasts is an instrumental facet of budget management analysis. “Forecasts prepared quickly and efficiently at its core not only gives companies the agility to manage as circumstances exchange unpredictably, it also takes less time, enables the implementation of robust incentive schemes and enhances corporate governance” (Sinister, 2009, p. 28). Forecasting is the nurse manager’s decisions about resource allocations for the coming year. For example, a nurse manager will forecast his or her resource allocations for 2014 during the current year of 2013. “Forecasting is a tool that helps in the preparation not only of the operating budget, but also of other budgets” (Finkler et al., 2007, p. 404).
One strategy that has become useful in managing budgets within forecasting is the use of computers to
References: Clerverley, W. O., & Cameron, A. E. (2007). Essentials of Health Care Finance (6th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Finkler, S. A., Kovner, C. T., & Jones, C. B. (2007). Financial Management for Nurse Managers and Executives (3rd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier. Knutsson, H., Ramberg, U., & Tagesson, T. (2012, September). Benchmarking Impact Through Municipal Benchmarking Networks. Public Performance & Management Review, 36(1), 102-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/PMR1530-9576360105 Sinister, M. (2009, August 1). Forecasting the death of budgets. Charter, 80(7), 28-29. Sobol, M., & Prater, E. (2011, January). Adoption, Usage and Efficiency: Benchmarking healthcare IT in Private Practices. International Journal of Healthcare Information Systems and Informatics, 6(1), 36-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jhisi.2011010103