The analysis of budgetary control systems in organisations: a case study of National Water and Sewerage Corporation

Abstract

The study aimed at analyzing the budgetary control systems of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC). It was based on three objectives which include; to identify the nature of budgetary control systems in NWSC, to establish the effectiveness of the budgetary control system in NWSC, to examine the challenges of budgetary control system and devise strategies that can help to improve the budgetary control systems in NWSC. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview guide and document review, and the sample of respondents were 165 employees of NWSC. The data was analyzed using SPSS where frequencies were obtained. The research findings evidently proved that in NWSC there is limited budgetary control and this is brought about by the lack of top management support, the poor communication between the different departments and the poor budget implementation. There is no continuous comparison of actual and budgeted performance, and the budget reports are based on past performance instead of being prepared on future trends. Management does not always agree on priorities in the budget meeting, and this ends up causing delays in the budgetary control implementation. The budget committee does not work according to its roles and responsibilities and there is limited budget participation between superiors and subordinates. Performance indicators are not always included during the budgetary control and this de-motivates the mangers who are supposed to spear head the implementation. It was concluded that budgetary control system success depends on the level of involvement of all the stakeholders. Budgetary control system is crucial to management and it is mechanistic to the achievement of organizational objectives and goals. The study recommended that there is a need for continuous training on budget control system.