Budget Reviews
Presenting and Defending a Budget Request
In order to facilitate an open conversation regarding your agency, budget goals and priorities, this course is only available in house at your site.
Contact Don Dickson at don.dickson@GovernmentTrainingInc.com or 301-455-5633 for fees and scheduling.
About this course
The Budget of the United States is a complex financial plan that is broad in scope and detailed in content. The Federal government’s budget involves the Congress, the President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Federal Agencies. Given the scope and size of the federal budget, it is no wonder that the process is in reality a number of budget processes. Each Department/ Agency such as the Department of Defense or the Department of the Treasury or General Services Administration has each established their own internal processes and procedures. These budget processes have many aspects which are similar from agency to agency. At the federal agencies, almost everyone within the Agency, bureau or department is involved in some manner with the formulation, justification and the execution of some aspect of the budget.
Whether you have program management or budget duties and responsibilities or provide information and support to others with budget responsibility, you should be knowledgeable of the budgeting process, principles and procedures in the three areas of budgeting: 1) budget preparation; 2) budget presentation & justification; and 3) budget execution.
This course focuses on the presentation, justification and defense of a budget submission within the Agency or Department or from an Agency or Department to a higher level. Members of every department or program will most likely encounter budget review questions, both in writing or verbally, that seek answers to questions such as: Why should your budget be increased above the prior year level? Can you justify last year’s budget in terms of accomplishments /outcomes? Why should your department’s budget be increased _% over the prior year? The purpose of the review is to obtain additional information or clarification of information in the budget request. Understanding the budget justification and review phases will facilitate the preparation and justification of viable, executable budgets that are within the goals, objectives and priorities of your organization.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you should know:- How department budget reviews provide a forum to present and justify how the budget request’s fits into the goals, objectives and priorities of the organization
- How budget reviewers assess budget estimates and program cost estimates and executablity of the request
- How budget reviews take into consideration and evaluation competing programs and plans as part of the resource allocation process
- How to evaluate any recommended changes to the budget request and the rationale for these changes as well determining how to respond to recommended changes
- How budget reviewers conduct the review and techniques used by the reviewers in their analysis and evaluation of the budget request
- How to better prepare and present your budget justifications and supporting budget exhibits