Budgeting vs Forecasting

Budgeting refers to projecting the revenues and costs of the company for the future specific period that the business wants to achieve. In contrast, forecasting refers to estimating what actually will be achieved by the company.

Budgeting is a structured format of goals and objectives that a company wants to achieve in the selected time frame, most commonly a year; however, it can be different. Forecasting is a periodic observation of the proportion of budgeted goals achieved and how much is remaining for the residual time frame.

The primary purpose of these processes is to support the enterprise strategy through planned initiatives and budgeted resource allocation to the extent that changes in the environment are impacting the capacity of the business to meet objectives.

A Budget is a detailed statement of an enterprise's financial activity, which includes revenue, expenses, investment, and cash flow for a particular period (often a year).

While preparing the budget for large companies, the budget statement may comprise input from the company’s various functional departments and profit centers (Business units). Therefore, it is a time-consuming process.

Generally, budgets are static and prepared for the company’s financial year. However, some organizations use a continuous budget, adjusted during the year based on changing business conditions. While this can add accuracy, it requires closer attention and may not necessarily yield a better outcome.

For example, An enterprise provides $ 75 million for interest (@10% pa) cost in its budget. But during the year, suddenly, The Central Bank of the country increases the interest rate, instigating the banks to raise their lending interest too. This shall result in higher interest costs for the company, and hence the company needs to reinstate its budget according to the new projected interest cost.

A forecast is an assessment of possible future events. At the initial planning stage, it is compulsory to prepare to forecast possible actions for the business in the future. Forecasts are prepared for sales, production, cost, procurement of material, and financial need of the business. The forecast has some flexibility, whereas the budget has a fixed target.

Generally, budgeting and forecasting are interchangeably or understood as the same activity (budgeting includes forecasting). However, there is a thin line between both. A forecast is a projection of what will happen during the budgeting period at an organization level, generally including significant incomes and expenditures. A forecast may be for a long-term or short-term period or using the top-down or bottom-up approach.

A long-term forecast will provide valuable output to the management for their strategic business plan. In contrast, short term forecast is generally is done for operational and day to day business needs.

Let's see the top differences between budgeting vs. forecasting.

• The purpose of the two techniques underlines the critical difference between the two as budgeting is a detailed sketch of the aims and objectives of the company in a set upcoming period. In contrast, forecasting is the regular monitoring of the same so that the company knows whether it is reasonable to think that the target will be met.
• The relevance of the conclusions is also different; forecasting is used to take interim measures in an attempt to meet the targets set by the budget, while the variance analysis is used to take up critical decisions of the company such as expansion activities required, compensation policy outline and components and so on

• Budgeting is also essential to understand whether a company can break even or not. Therefore, whether it should continue operations or start an attempt to gradually take an austere measure of liquidating assets or finding an interested buyer who may buy the company in part or whole.
• Constant revisions to the budget make it meaningless because it can lead to a lot of confusion; however, a continual review of forecasted numbers is necessary to understand what changes are required in the current techniques for incorporating interim changes.
• Budgeting is conducted for all financial statements, such as income, cash flow, and balance sheets. However, the forecasting is only for revenues and expenses because other items involve more significant uncertainty. Forecasting them may seem futile as it will amount to nothing.

We can draw a simple analogy that a budget is like seasons, which are for a certain period, the maximum time that can have a particular type of weather. At the same time, forecasting is an interim announcement of the number of rains or sun that can be expected on any given day. It can’t be predicted for a more extended period as it will be affected by daily weather changes and, therefore, may not bring out a truer picture if predicted long before.

Both techniques are essential and form an integral part of the short term and long term decision making. For example, if budgets are not formulated, the company may become directionless. At the same time, if forecasting is not conducted, there can be a chance of oversight and piling up of wrong decisions and inaction.

This article has been a guide to budgeting vs. forecasting. Here we discuss the top difference between them and the key differences, and a comparative table. You may also have a look at the following articles –

• Advertising Budget
• Accounting Skills
• Rolling Forecast
• Activity Based Budgeting