Case Study Discussion—Developing an Operating Budget

When creating a budget for an organization, it is important to consider several outputs. These outputs depend on the perspective of the individual developing the budget. There are certain best practices for developing budgets.

In this assignment, you will join a discussion that reviews the details of the case in M5: Assignment 1. You will discuss the value of budgeting as well as methods used to motivate all departments or units of an organization to define budgets.

Consider the following questions:

• How should management address variances in a budget?
• How does management get the necessary cooperation from process owners during the budget process?
• What do you do when a manager does not cooperate with budget development and does not address variances from the budget?
• Contributions are an integral part of an NFP meeting budget. How appropriate is it for an NFP hospital to budget expected contributions?
• If you were developing a budget for SMH, how would you manage the budgeting process?
• How might the budgeting process differ between FP and NFP hospitals?
• Many states have a charities bureau that monitors charitable activities including NFP hospitals. Review the site for your state and comment on this agency as it relates to the budget process.
• Is budget creation an art or a science?