Importance of budget management and costs as support for decision making in micro and small enterprises

Abstract

This study aims to demonstrate the importance and foment the utilization of the budget and cost management in a Micro and Small Enterprises (MPEs), evidencing their applicability and support to the decision making in a restaurant located in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The data collection occurs between the months of August 2017 and February 2018. There are realized interviews and accompaniments of the procedures with the owner partner, employees and close members of the chain. Also there are analyzed reports and documents and raised the pertinent data to the actuation market. There are elaborated the company's operating budgets (sales, raw material, labor, indirect costs and costs with selling, distribution and administration) from May to December 2018. The budgets informations are validated by the manager and there are analyzed his perception about the relevance of the instrument. According to the manager, the budgets informations provided reflection and knowledge and made him ponder about the importance of planning and control, incurring, even, in the changing of some practices. That is because, even though the financial results raised are satisfactory, the information detailing demonstrated that there are possibilities to maximize them. Therefore, this tool fulfills its role as a management instrument to the MPEs, by providing better comprehension of the current state, design future scenarios and indicate points to be improved. Spite acknowledging its information advantages, the manager pointed out some difficulties regarding the utilization of budgets and claims that its implementation should be a gradual process.