What is Project Budget? Definition, Example, And Importances

Project budgeting is crucial to keep the project funded as well as keeping it controlled. To prepare the project’s budget, what one should need to do is simply sum up the estimated costs of the individual activities.

This information is needed to create a cost baseline and determine funding requirements.

Project budgets are similar to resource plans, which reflect project work and the timing required to complete that work.

This gives the company’s management an understanding of how funds will be utilized and expended over time for the project’s implementation.

Definition:

It is part of a financial process that can be divided into three levels:

• cost estimation: it is established by relating to the actual costs of similar projects executed in the past and if possible, linked to the estimated timeframe,
• project budgeting: budget is allocated following the breakdown of the project.
• cost controlling.

A calculation method widely used in project management is Earned Value Management or the S-curve.

It is used to measure a project’s progress and foresee the next steps by comparing forecasts with actions being carried out and the costs associated with it.

A project budget consists of listing, identifying, and classification of expenses and the revenue a company has or is in the process of being acquired.

Once the project budget is prepared and finalized, the major responsibility of managing a project falls on the project manager.

Before initiating the process of budgeting for the project, the following are some points that he must keep in his mind;

• He must assess the project’s feasibility, including the market study and an estimate of the budget and resources available.
• He should set objectives.
• He should break down the projects and schedule tasks.
• He must allocate resources (human and material).
• He must identify risk factors,
• He must plan projects and schedules,
• He must create quotations and allocate the project budget.
• After doing all the above steps, he should present it to higher management for validation and approval, and make amendments (if necessary).
• Once the project budget is finalized, he should monitor the project’s progress and adjust schedules and budgets in real-time where he thinks necessary.

Example:

ABC Company

1^st Quarterly Budget for XYZ Project

For the period ended Dec 31, 20XX

Income	Budgeted	Actual	Excess  / (Deficit)
	————– (Amount In million dollars) —————
Grants received	5	4	(1)
Other donations	2	1	(1)
Profit on bank deposits	0.1	0.2	0.1
Exchange gain	0.3	0.2	(0.1)
Gain on disposal	0.4	2	1.6
Total	7.8	7.4	(0.4)
Expenditure	Budgeted	Actual	Excess  / (Deficit)
	————– (Amount In million dollars) —————
Salaries and wages	1	1.5	0.5
Repair and Maintenance expenses	0.1	0.2	0.1
Utility bills	0.4	0.6	0.2
Equipment’s maintenance	0.5	0.4	(0.1)
Office Supplies	0.4	0.5	0.1
Program activities	1	2	1
Financing charges	0.01	0.02	0.01
Establishment charges	0.02	0.09	0.07
Communication expenses	0.3	0.9	0.6
Website/ Programming	0.5	0.1	(0.4)
Staff capacity development	0.6	0.2	(0.4)
Printing and Stationery	0.04	0.08	0.04
Other supplies	0.1	0.3	0.2
Total	4.97	6.89	1.92

The project manager of ABC company was assigned the task of preparing a project budget for the 1st quarter for the period ending Dec 31, 20XX.

In the first column, he mentioned all the sources from which he had expected income would arise in the given quarter period against which he also calculated the budgeted expenditure.

At the end of the 1^st quarter, he calculated the income earned (including grants and donations received) and the expenditure incurred.

During the analysis it was observed that in a few heads of income there was an excess of actual income received compared to the budgeted amount however in a few heads, the income received was less than expected.

A similar trend was also observed during the analysis of expenditure.

If the overall impact of income and expenditure is observed, it can be easily noticed that the actual total income received was less than budgeted.

Overall actual expenses also exceeded the budgeted limit set for the expenditure of this project.

From the above example, the project manager’s performance can also be judged. It can be observed that the manager failed to manage the project appropriately since he remained unable to control the expenses against the available resources.

The project manager must deeply analyze the 1^st quarter performance before making the project budget for the 2^nd quarter.

He needs to control unneeded expenses in the next quarter. He should spend the available project resources on project activities to achieve the project objectives, which will subsequently lead to the company’s success.

Repeatedly poor performance in the projects will expose the company to the risk of non-achievement of the objectives which would harm the reputation of the company in the future and the results would be in the form of inability to receive grants and donations.

Importance:

It is very important to give necessary and considerable time and attention when developing a project’s budget.

It requires considering several factors, including time, financial resources, objectives, and human resources.

Preparation of the project budget is significant due to the following reasons:

• It is helpful in the process of decision-making.
• It anticipates future outcomes.
• It confronts stakeholders’ desires with economic realities.
• It is useful in the application for funding, donations, or partnerships.
• It is useful as it presents a credible and viable project.
• It is also useful for project cost control. Comparing the project’s actual cost against the approved budget helps the project manager of a company determine if the project is progressing according to the plan. If not, what type of corrective actions are needed to ensure the smooth flow of project activities?
• And finally, it helps him to adjust the project as needed.