Definition:
A budget is a financial document used to project future income and expenses. The budgeting process may be carried out by individuals or by companies to estimate whether the person/company can continue to operate with its projected income and expenses.
A budget may be prepared simply using paper and pencil, or on computer using a spreadsheet program like Excel, or with a financial application like Quicken or QuickBooks.
The process for preparing a monthly budget for your business includes:
- Listing of all sources of monthly income, including sales and interest
- Listing of all required, fixed expenses, like rent/mortgage, utilities, phone
- Listing of other possible and variable expenses.
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The budget creation process works the same way for both personal and business budgets. First, you will need to review your income sources, then your expenditures. Learn more about how to create a personal budget at Financial Planning at About.com.
Create a start-up budget using the step-by-step instructions.
More Information on Budgeting for Business
Why Do I Need a Budget for My Business? What Is the Purpose of a Budget?
How Do I Use a Budget to Get a Business Loan?
What is Zero-based Budgeting and How Can It Help My Business?
What are Some Tools I Can Use to Create and Maintain a Budget?