Evidence that activities in the annual operational plan have been costed and that resources have been allocated to individual or sets of activities.

Data Source(s):

Budgets; chart of accounts; operational plan(s).

Purpose:

This indicator measures the effectiveness of an organization or a program to match available resources with planned activities. Budgets may cover single activities (sub-budgets) or whole programs; a well-constructed budget allows for the “rolling up” of several sub-budgets into a total operating budget.

Issue(s):

Measurement of this indicator assumes a certain level of clarity of the budget. For this reason, those preparing budgets must provide information on the units of cost, that is, the number of participants, the specific number and type of materials, the number of days of per-diem, and the number of persons to receive per-diem, for example. This level of detail makes it easier to assign a value or cost to each unit. It also makes it easier to modify the budget because numbers in the plan shift over time. When budgets are broken down into unit costs, tracking changes in costs over time is easier. It is also easier to review quotes that come in from vendors, because historical data are available from prior budgets.

References:

MSH. 1999c. Understanding and Using Financial Management Systems to Make Decisions. Boston, MA: