There are several important factors to starting a successful business. One such factor is budgeting. There are many aspects to a business budget, however. The operating budget, for instance, dictates what a business will spend.
Here are a few tips for creating a successful operating budget and all that it entails.
Sales Budget
Most managers and business owners forecast their sales from experts in the field. Using these forecasts, they can get a general idea of what their business expects to do in sales. Those forecasted sales can help when it comes time to adjust expenses such as employees, materials, and so on.
Production Budget
Whether selling a product or service, a business owner needs to know what providing that thing will cost. The product budget lets the owner know how many units of a product to produce to meet the sales forecast. Production includes direct materials, labor, and any additional overhead tied to production.
Direct Materials
The direct materials budget encompasses any of the aforementioned raw materials that are needed to produce the product or provide the service. This portion of the budget not only dictates the amount needed, but the cost to obtain said materials. It also helps determine how much raw material needs to be kept on hand at one time.
Direct Labor
Having the raw materials on hand is just one step in the process. Those materials have to be converted into the product to drive sales, right? Well, the direct labor budget is the costs of making said product. That includes tools and labor hours required to create the product.
Ending Finished Goods Inventory Budget
This part is important. With the materials, labor, and overhead costs factored in, this budget tells the company what each unit costs. That per unit cost tells the company what they need to make per unit and how many units need to be sold.
There are many more aspects that go into an operating budget, but these are some of the most important. It gives the company the information that it needs to properly predict their needs and price the product.