A survey of budget implementation process in Kenyan commercial banks

Abstract

Budget generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending. According to Flamholtz, (1983), Budgets are financial blueprints that quantify a firm’s plans for a future period. Budgets require management to specify expected sales, cash inflows and outflows, and costs; and they provide a mechanism for effective planning and control in organizations. The budget is a standard against which the actual performance can be compared and measured. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods. The study used a census survey design. The strength of a census survey is that it is a representation of a whole population. The target population for this study involved all the 45 head offices of commercial banks in Kenya. The researcher used both primary data and secondary data to carry out research. Primary data were from questionnaires and interviews issued to the targeted population. Secondary data was gathered from annual reports, books, journals and other previous research works. The data acquired from the questionnaire was coded and analysed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the secondary data was analysed through content analysis. The study found out that the process of budget implementation is generally effective, also representatives from different platforms are involved in the process, the execution of the process is fast and efficient, the process attracts opinions and few complaints have been experienced, the budgetary implementation procedures and the decision makers are fair at all levels of the organization and the process has encouraged operational assessment in all platforms of the organization.