traditional budgeting system
a. Traditional Budgeting
Wildavsky (1978, p.502) mentions that "traditional budgeting is annual (repeated yearly) and incremental (departing marginally from the year before)". It is conducted on a cash basis in current dollar. It is also in the form of line-items such as personnel or maintenance. This system is essentially a financial plan of estimated expenditures expressed in terms of kinds and quantities of objects to be bought and the estimated funds needed to finance them during a specified period, usually one year (Babunakis, 1976).
The traditional budgeting system, therefore, provides a means for national governments to promote accountability with regard to the utilization of funds and to ensure every expenditure matches the original plans. It serves as the basis for establishing the financial accounting procedures and controls required to meet defined accountability and compliance requirements (Kenneth S. 1978). In modern times, traditional budgeting has also become an instrument of economic management and of planning (Wildavsky, 1978).
Furthermore, one of the main characteristics of this type of budget is that its stability of allocation, not only in absolute allocation but also in proportional terms, the marginal increments due to inflation or other consequences, is relatively constant from year to year. The main features and purpose of this approach are central financial control and accountability. At present, most developing countries use traditional budgets system that are based upon 'classical rules' which adhere to the principles of centralization, vote accounting, the gross budget principle, annuality and specification (Jones & Pendlebury, 1996, p.5).
However, there are considerable criticisms of traditional budgets. One of the fundamental weaknesses of the budgetary process is the use of the revised current year estimates of revenue and expenditure as the starting point for determining the budget for the next year (Jones & Pendlebury,
Wildavsky (1978, p.502) mentions that "traditional budgeting is annual (repeated yearly) and incremental (departing marginally from the year before)". It is conducted on a cash basis in current dollar. It is also in the form of line-items such as personnel or maintenance. This system is essentially a financial plan of estimated expenditures expressed in terms of kinds and quantities of objects to be bought and the estimated funds needed to finance them during a specified period, usually one year (Babunakis, 1976).
The traditional budgeting system, therefore, provides a means for national governments to promote accountability with regard to the utilization of funds and to ensure every expenditure matches the original plans. It serves as the basis for establishing the financial accounting procedures and controls required to meet defined accountability and compliance requirements (Kenneth S. 1978). In modern times, traditional budgeting has also become an instrument of economic management and of planning (Wildavsky, 1978).
Furthermore, one of the main characteristics of this type of budget is that its stability of allocation, not only in absolute allocation but also in proportional terms, the marginal increments due to inflation or other consequences, is relatively constant from year to year. The main features and purpose of this approach are central financial control and accountability. At present, most developing countries use traditional budgets system that are based upon 'classical rules' which adhere to the principles of centralization, vote accounting, the gross budget principle, annuality and specification (Jones & Pendlebury, 1996, p.5).
However, there are considerable criticisms of traditional budgets. One of the fundamental weaknesses of the budgetary process is the use of the revised current year estimates of revenue and expenditure as the starting point for determining the budget for the next year (Jones & Pendlebury,