ASSESSMENT OF BUDGET CONTROL AND UTILIZATION SYSTEM (CASE OF WOLKITE TOWN OFFICE OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE (OFED))

Abstract

This paper aimed at assessing the budget control and utilization in a case study of Wolkite town finance and economic development. A budget is a quantitative expression of a plan for a defined period. It is a crucial part of the planning process. Government organizations need budget to plan future activities because it has a greatinle for the existence of the organization. Problems and issues related to government budgeting are reflected during budget preparation, utilization, and control. An organization, which is failed to utilize and control its budget properly is exposed to uneconomic and misappropriation its resource. The overall objective of the study is to assess the budget utilization and control system in a case study of working town finance and economic development office. Specifically the research tried to identify first, whether the organization prepares budget utilization performance reports or not; second to examine the treatment of over/ utilize budget; third to identify critical problems those that encountered in the budget utilization and control and fourthly to evaluate the actions taken when the organization faces a budget deficit. of the study both primary, and secondary data used data artery data is collected using questionnaires and interview. interviews ARY data is collected from annual reports and manuals. The researcher used purposive/judgmental sampling technique to collect relevant information for the study. Quantitative analysis sch as tabulation and percentage, and q qualitative analysis have been used in analyzing the data collected. The findings of the study showed some strengths and weakness of the office regarding its budget preparation, control and utilization. Among the weaknesses identified in this study include lack of skilled manpower, lack of strict control and lack of job training and absence of linkage between plan and budget. Based on the finding identified the researcher recommended that hiring skilled manpower, providing regular training concerning their professionalactivities experience sharing among employees and evaluating the office performance periodically.