Excel & Budgeting

In budgeting, conventional methods using calculators consumes time and changes in figures mean Recalculation. That is why Microsoft (MS) Excel can help especially in automation of multiplications (formula) and summations (auto-sum).

In a programme based organization such as the one that I'm working with, in depth knowledge of your programme is a must. The objectives must be clear and understood well. All cost that might occur must be identified in advance. As such, the programme tentative has to be finalized before budgeting can be done. Important criteria that could help in identifying the total cost are as follows:

1. No. of Days of the Programme and whether its a stay-in or just a day programme.
2. No. of Facilitators / Lecturers involved and their professional fee rate per hour / day / programme.
3. No. of Participants involved and their rate of material needed (e.g. stationery), 
4. No. of Helpers (e.g. RELA, PBSM) and their allowance
5. Food Cost (derived from the number of programme expected attendee x rate of food per person)
6. Accommodation Cost (derived from the number of person provided with accommodation)
7. Cost of Venue (e.g. Rental, Electricity, P.A. System, Documentation

Since MS Excel are in forms of tables, the conventional method of building tables in MS Words is a misuse to my opinion whereas you will have to manually sum the cost by calculator later. Anyway, as software evolves, instead of a normal table in MS Words, we could also create an Excel table. The only downfall is that the table somethings get corrupted and you'll be burn (upset) later.

To avoid that, we create the budget in normal MS Excel and later import it to MS Word once completed. However, MS Word is more practical for budget write ups and foreword which is more presentable as a proposal than an MS Excel printout.