Page 127 - Budgeting for Managers

Budgeting for Managers
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Planning the Format of a Budget
There are a number of questions you can ask to decide
how you want your budget to look:
• Should totals be directly below the items they total or offset one
column to the right?
• Should column headings be bold or italic?
• Should items be bold or italic?
• Should sub-items be bold or italic?
• Should sub-totals be bold, italic, or underlined?
• Should totals be bold, italic, underlined, or double-underlined?
• If you are comparing estimated and actual, do you want estimated in
regular font and actual in italic?
well. In a budget, good formatting is not just a matter of making
it pretty. A good format is also making it clear. People will
understand the budget more easily if the format helps them see
the numbers that matter and know what the numbers represent
without having to think about the format and layout too much.
What is the best format to use? There’s no one right
answer. Some companies have predefined spreadsheet for-
mats. If there’s a standard at your company, you should follow
it. If not, then you can
make one yourself. But
Formats and Templates
Here are some things to do you might show it to your
boss and to accounting. If
when setting up budget formats
and templates: your boss has been using
• Make template files with no num- double underlines for
bers in them. Save each template file totals for 30 years, then
and copy it to create new budgets. you should do the same,
• Set up spreadsheets with properly so that she or he can read
formatted columns, totals, formulas,
your budgets easily.
and links that you can use over and
over again. Adding Account
• Use comments to explain compli-
cated formulas. Codes
• If the budget will be photocopied When you’re presenting
on poor-quality copiers, avoid bold, the budget to most audi-
as it may not be apparent in copies.
ences, you don’t need to