After studying this chapter, you should be able to . . .

1. Describe the role of budgets in the overall management process
2. Discuss the importance of strategy and its role in the master budgeting process
3. Outline the budgeting process
4. Prepare a master budget and explain the interrelationships among its supporting schedules
5. Deal with uncertainty in the budgeting process
6. Identify unique characteristics of budgeting for service companies
7. Understand alternative approaches to budgeting (zero-base budgeting, activity-based budgeting, time-driven activity-based budgeting, and kaizen budgeting)
8. Discuss various behavioral considerations in budgeting