The Advantages of Budgets: A Survey of Macedonian Legal Entities

Abstract

By surveying legal entities headquartered in the FYR Macedonia, this research investigates the relationship between entity size, the independent variables and the adoption of budgeting, the dependent variable. The study also looks at the perceived advantages and disadvantages of budgeting. In order to obtain basis for the field research, existing literature and empirical results were examined. Then, a survey was carried out by contacting managers and finance staff from the manufacturing, merchandising and service segments. The field data came from a sample of 52 respondents, forming a response rate of 61 percent. The empirical findings indicate that the advantages of using budgets far outweigh the disadvantages and that Macedonian enterprises do not consider using other planning tools as alternative to budgets. Furthermore, the questionnaire demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between company size and the adoption of budgeting practices. This research suggests that budgeting deserves further study given its massive use as a management control tool.