Explain how the organization format its budget (e.g. line-item, program, or performance budgeting or something else)?
3. Comparing the current budget to budgets from at least one preceding fiscal year(s), what changes have occurred in the sources and amounts of revenues received by the entity? Are the sources of revenue sufficiently diversified? Explain the
nature of its revenue diversification and offer suggestions for how the entity could better diversify its revenue sources (if appropriate).
4. To what extent are the various departments/program areas identified in the budget document? What additional sources of information (e.g. the organization’s website) did you need in order to determine department/program activities? What
are the relative proportions of the budget allocated to the various departments/program areas? Have these allocations varied significantly over the recent past? How/why/why not?
5. What proportion of the budget is devoted to personnel costs and how do costs for salaries and benefits compare to prior years/budgets? Are the increases because of adding personnel or because of increases in other personnel-related costs?
6. Discuss the amounts and for what purposes it distributes funds to nonprofit organizations and/or other units of government.
7. How large is the fund balance (savings) held by the entity and how has this varied over the past few years?
8. Does your organization have capital project plans during the next five years?
How are these projects to be funded? Is this information available in their budget/audit documents or did you need to obtain supplementary information? Does the organization have a separate capital projects budget?
9. What is the entity’s current debt, and what are its debt obligations for the next ten years? 20 years?
10. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the entity’s budget as a planning document. Can you tell what the goals of the entity are and what challenges confront it in accomplishing its goals? What factors (including COVID) are causing significant changes in the operations of the entity? How could the budget document be made more understandable to the entity’s stakeholders?
Your paper should provide an analysis of your entity’s budget, including revenue and expenditure patterns over a 2 or 3 year period. As appropriate, include graphs in your paper to support your viewpoint. Visual information (e.g. charts, graphs, tables) helps the reader to understand the trends involved.
In order to fulfill the requirements for the budget analysis paper, you will need at least the following documents: 1) a complete copy of the Annual Budget for 2019, 2020, 2021 as provided; and 2) CAFRs for 2019 and 2020.Complete the following assignment using the questions/sections provided in Chapter 15 Exhibit 15.1 to guide you (I have attached here too) Finkler Ch 15 exh 15.1.pdf Download Finkler Ch 15 exh 15.1.pdf. You do not have to address each of these questions/sections in this Exhibit, rather it is meant to be an aid for you in understanding how to conduct a comprehensive analysis of an organization.
AT A MINIMUM, you must address the 10 sets of questions below for this assignment. Generally, each of the 10 sets of questions will be worth 2 points each for a total of 20 points. Your submission must be labeled to correspond to the 10 sets of questions.
Review (see files in Module 13) the City of Fort Collins, CO Budgets for 2019, 2020 and 2021, (note they normally provide a two year budget but due to COVID did a one year budget for 2021 and will do so again for 2022) and review the two CAFRs and answer the following questions about the budget and the financial trends.
Budget Analysis and Beyond–
1. Introduce and describe the entity, including discussion of the geographic, demographic, and economic factors relevant to understanding its fiscal environment. Include discussion of the scope of its activities.
2. How does the organization format its budget (e.g. line-item, program, or performance budgeting or something else)?
3. Comparing the current budget to budgets from at least one preceding fiscal year(s), what changes have occurred in the sources and amounts of revenues received by the entity? Are the sources of revenue sufficiently diversified? Explain the
nature of its revenue diversification and offer suggestions for how the entity could better diversify its revenue sources (if appropriate).
4. To what extent are the various departments/program areas identified in the budget document? What additional sources of information (e.g. the organization’s website) did you need in order to determine department/program activities? What
are the relative proportions of the budget allocated to the various departments/program areas? Have these allocations varied significantly over the recent past? How/why/why not?
5. What proportion of the budget is devoted to personnel costs and how do costs for salaries and benefits compare to prior years/budgets? Are the increases because of adding personnel or because of increases in other personnel-related costs?
6. Discuss the amounts and for what purposes it distributes funds to nonprofit organizations and/or other units of government.
7. How large is the fund balance (savings) held by the entity and how has this varied over the past few years?
8. Does your organization have capital project plans during the next five years?
How are these projects to be funded? Is this information available in their budget/audit documents or did you need to obtain supplementary information? Does the organization have a separate capital projects budget?
9. What is the entity’s current debt, and what are its debt obligations for the next ten years? 20 years?
10. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the entity’s budget as a planning document. Can you tell what the goals of the entity are and what challenges confront it in accomplishing its goals? What factors (including COVID) are causing significant changes in the operations of the entity? How could the budget document be made more understandable to the entity’s stakeholders?
Your paper should provide an analysis of your entity’s budget, including revenue and expenditure patterns over a 2 or 3 year period. As appropriate, include graphs in your paper to support your viewpoint. Visual information (e.g. charts, graphs, tables) helps the reader to understand the trends involved.
In order to fulfill the requirements for the budget analysis paper, you will need at least the following documents: 1) a complete copy of the Annual Budget for 2019, 2020, 2021 as provided; and 2) CAFRs for 2019 and 2020.
