Objective 4.3 - Identify and explain the process of budgeting based on calculated income.
Introduction Man is the measure of all things; of that which is, that it is; of that which is not, that it is not. Protagoras (ca. 490–421 BC), in Plato’s Protagoras Man is also the measurer of all things. Measuring by counting, by adding it all up, by taking stock, is probably as old as any human activity. In recorded history, there are “accounts” on clay tablets from ancient Sumeria dating from ca. 3,700 BC.[1] Since the first shepherd counted his sheep, there has been accounting. In financial planning, assessing the current situation, or figuring out where you are at present, is crucial to determining any sort of financial plan. This assessment becomes the point of departure for any strategy. It becomes the mark from which any progress is measured, the principal from which any return is calculated. It can determine the practical or realistic goals to have and the strategies to achieve them. Eventually, the current situation becomes a time forgotten with the pride of success, or remembered with the regret of failure. Understanding the current situation is not just a matter of measuring it, but also of putting it in perspective and in context, relative to your own past performance and future goals, and relative to the realities in the economic world around you. Tools for understanding your current situation are your accounting and financial statements. [1] Gary Giroux, http://acct.tamu.edu/giroux/AncientWorld.html (Links to an external site.) (accessed January 19, 2009). 3.1 Accounting and Financial Statements LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Accrual accounting defines earning as an economic event signified by an exchange of goods rather than by an exchange of cash. In this way, accrual accounting allows for the separation in time of the exchange of goods and the exchange of cash. A transaction can be completed over time and distance, which allows for extended—and extensive—trade. Another advantage of accrual accounting is that it gives a business a more accurate picture of its present situation in reality. Modern accounting techniques developed during the European Age of Discovery, which was motivated by ever-expanding trade. Both the principles and the methods of modern accrual accounting were first published in a text by Luca Pacioli in 1494,[1] although they were probably developed even before that. These methods of “keeping the books” can be applied to personal finance today as they were to trading in the age of long voyages for pepper and cloves, and with equally valuable results. Nevertheless, in personal finance it almost always makes more sense to use cash accounting, to define and account for events when the cash changes hands. So in personal finance, incomes and expenses are noted when the cash is received or paid, or when the cash flows. The Accounting Process Financial decisions result in transactions, actual trades that buy or sell, invest or borrow. In the market economy, something is given up in order to get something, so each trade involves at least one thing given up and one thing gotten—two things flowing in at least two directions. The process of accounting records these transactions and records what has been gotten and what has been given up to get it, what flows in and what flows out. In business, accounting journals and ledgers are set up to record transactions as they happen. In personal finance, a checkbook records most transactions, with statements from banks or investment accounts providing records of the rest. Periodically, the transaction information is summarized in financial statements so it can be read most efficiently. Bookkeeping—the process of recording what and how and by how much a transaction affects the financial situation—is how events are recorded. Since the advent of accounting software, bookkeeping, like long division and spelling, has become somewhat obsolete, although human judgment is still required. What is more interesting and useful are the summary reports that can be produced once all this information is recorded: the income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet. Income Statement The income statement summarizes incomes and expenses for a period of time. In business, income is the value of whatever is sold, expenses are the costs of earning that income, and the difference is profit. In personal finance, income is what is earned as wages or salary and as interest or dividends, and expenses are the costs of things consumed in the course of daily living: the costs of sustaining you while you earn income. Thus, the income statement is a measure of what you have earned and what your cost of living was while earning it. The difference is personal profit, which, if accumulated as investment, becomes your wealth. The income statement clearly shows the relative size of your income and expenses. If income is greater than expenses, there is a surplus, and that surplus can be used to save or to spend more (and create more expenses). If income is less than expenses, then there is a deficit that must be addressed. If the deficit continues, it creates debts—unpaid bills—that must eventually be paid. Over the long term, a deficit is not a viable scenario. The income statement can be useful for its level of detail too. You can see which of your expenses consumes the greatest portion of your income or which expense has the greatest or least effect on your bottom line. If you want to reduce expenses, you can see which would have the greatest impact or would free up more income if you reduced it. If you want to increase income, you can see how much more that would buy you in terms of your expenses (Figure 3.3 "Alice’s Situation (in Dollars)"). For example, consider Alice’s situation per year. Figure 3.3 Alice’s Situation (in Dollars) She also had car payments of $2,400 and student loan payments of $7,720. Each loan payment actually covers the interest expense and partial repayment of the loan. The interest is an expense representing the cost of borrowing, and thus of having, the car and the education. The repayment of the loan is not an expense, however, but is just giving back something that was borrowed. In this case, the loan payments break down as follows (Figure 3.4 "Alice’s Loan Payments (Annually)").Figure 3.4 Alice’s Loan Payments (Annually)
Breaking down Alice’s living expenses in more detail and adding in her interest expenses, Alice’s income statement would look like this (Figure 3.5 "Alice’s Income Statement for the Year 2009").
Figure 3.5 Alice’s Income Statement for the Year 2009
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