402 Accounting: Business Reporting for Decision Making
Sources: Ferguson, A & Butler, B 2014, ‘CBA tellers driven to despair by hard sell’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1
July, http://www.smh.com.au/business/cba-tellers-driven-to-despair-by-hard-sell-20140630-3b4ca.html#ixzz3p5qZzGOd;
Yeates, C 2014, ‘Financial advice: CBA CEO Ian Narev defends reputation, says sales targets will be retained’, Sydney
Morning Herald, 6 July, http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/financial-advice-cba-ceo-ian-narev-defends-
reputation-says-sales-targets-will-be-retained-20140706-3bgr0.html; Yeates, C 2015, ‘Westpac moving away from sales
targets for staff’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 August, http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/westpac-
moving-away-from-sales-targets-for-staff-20150828-gja50b.html#ixzz3kLd4VCy7.These negative consequences of budgeting may often be overcome through a proper process of con-
sultation with and participation of those influenced by the budgets as well as through a suitable allocation
of responsibilities. To achieve this, the accounting department needs to work closely with the managers
of various areas of the organisation. The accounting staff will act as facilitators to collect relevant infor-
mation, by assisting those within the entity who are required to provide the information, and then once
collected, by preparing the relevant budget reports for dissemination throughout the organisation.
VALUE TO BUSINESS• Budgets form an integral part of an entity’s planning processes.
• The budget process will vary from entity to entity, particularly in relation to the levels of participation.
• An entity’s set of budgets is commonly arranged under the umbrella of a master budget.
• The cash budget focuses on cash-related items, and serves as a useful tool for planning (setting
targets) and control (calculating variances).(continued)