The course is intended for business professionals engaged in budgeting, financial planning, forecasting, profit planning, and control. A budget is the formal expression of plans, goals, and objectives of management that covers all aspects of operations for a designated time period. The budget is a tool providing targets and direction. Budgets provide control over the immediate environment, help to master the financial aspects of the job and department, and solve problems before they occur. Budgets focus on the importance of evaluating alternative actions before decisions are actually implemented. This course explains what budgets are, how they work, how to prepare and present them, and how to analyze budget figures and results. The new development and use of budgets such as rolling budgets at various managerial levels within a business are illustrated, along with active financial planning software and e-budgeting that combine budgeting, forecasting analytics, business intelligence, and collaboration.