An evaluation of the most prevalent budgeting practice in the South African business community

Abstract

This study is based on a combination of existing theoretical knowledge and recently conducted empirical research. The analysis of knowledge that has come from the academic world has resulted in an extensive review of budgeting. The review starts at the inception of budgets in the nineteenth century, where it was just a tool to manage cost and cash flows. The study follows the trajectory of the evolution of budgeting from Traditional Budgeting practices that lasted for decades to, what is known today as, Better Budgeting.

The evolution of budgeting has been driven by the desire of organisations to mitigate business challenges which result from the economic volatilities of the day as well as to remain competitive. This desire to mitigate business challenges remains relevant today and demands that organisations be equipped with best practice management tools, systems and business processes.

In order to manage organisations effectively and efficiently, Management Accounting as a discipline is in a state of constant development. Over the years, a number of new innovations have been introduced in the field of Management Accounting. These include (but are not limited to) concepts such as Activity Based Costing (ABC), Activity Based Management (ABM), Activity Based Budgeting (ABB), Target Costing, Strategic Cost Management and Economic Value Added (Budgeting)(EVA™), Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB), Rolling Budgets and Forecasting (RBF), Balanced-Score Card (BSC) and Beyond Budgeting. These innovations aim to provide business managers with practical value adding solutions for a better understanding of the organisation’s product or service costing and planning strategies. The focus of this study is on innovations relating to the planning strategies of the organisation. Innovations that relate to planning include: Activity Based Budgeting, Zero Based Budgeting and Rolling Budgeting and Forecasting. The budget evolution is not short of academic value; researchers have conducted empirical surveys and have provided a theoretical perspective on the subject matter with fruitful findings. There appears to be a consensus regarding a total overhaul of Traditional Budgeting with the clear intention to move towards Better Budgeting. In the midst of this continued research work, there has been an emergence of a radical view about budgeting. This radical view concerns pursuing an agenda that suggests that organisations must stop preparing budgets. The gist of this radical development can be summed up as the limitations presented by budgeting in organisations. This recent concept has been coined as Beyond Budgeting.

To remain globally competitive, South African organisations must keep abreast with the latest developments in management practices. This study therefore provides a good platform for South African organisations to obtain knowledge in what other countries are already doing around the subject of budgeting.

The study has a two-pronged problem statement. Firstly, do organisations still budget? Secondly, what do organisations feel is the future for budgeting? Are they keeping with Traditional Budgeting, moving towards Better Budgeting or rather going further and looking Beyond Budgeting? The South African business community is no exception to this global budget debate about Traditional Budgeting, Better Budgeting and Beyond Budgeting.

To gather evidence, the study made use of an online survey questionnaire that is attached as Appendix 2. An email invite containing an Internet hyperlink was sent to respondents. Respondents were expected to click on the hyperlink to gain access the pre-designed online survey questionnaire.

Upon the analysis of the results, it was concluded that the South African business community still relies on budgeting, with 90% of the respondents saying that budgeting is indispensable, as their organisations will not manage without budgeting. Furthermore, there was a clear-cut move from Traditional Budgeting towards Better Budgeting. The study also concluded that the move towards Better Budgeting is supported by the inability of Traditional Budgeting to keep up with the rapid changes in macro and micro-economic factors. Also interesting to note is the revelation that 0% of the respondents indicated that they had adopted and implemented Beyond Budgeting. This resistance by the South African business community to the adoption of Beyond Budgeting and the resulting slower pace of this new practice's implementation is actually similar to the pace at which global organisations have received this radical budgeting practice.