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Budgeting & Forecasting › The Budgeting Process

What is 'beyond budgeting' and why has it emerged?

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Beyond Budgeting is a management philosophy criticizing traditional annual budgets as rigid, time-consuming, and prone to gaming, and instead advocating adaptive processes—relative targets, rolling forecasts, decentralized decision-making, and continuous planning. It emerged from frustration that fixed annual budgets don't suit fast-changing environments.
Real-world example A company abandons its fixed annual budget for rolling forecasts and relative performance targets under Beyond Budgeting.

Common follow-ups: What does Beyond Budgeting replace fixed budgets with? | What are the criticisms of annual budgets?