Accounting term for a financial document which projects future income and expenditure by an individual or organisation, in order to determine whether the individual/organisation can continue to operate in this manner. In simple terms, preparing a budget means listing all sources of income for a specified period (usually monthly or annually) and then comparing this to a list of fixed expenses (mortgage, rent, electricity, etc) and a list of other possible and variable expenses. A surplus budget means profits are expected, while a budget deficit indicates expenses will exceed revenues.

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