Commercial Painting Budgets - Budgeting For Commercial Painting Projects

If your maintenance budget for the current operating year has a taken a hit, you may be wondering how to get a commercial painting project accomplished along with everything else. Two possible solutions to project budgeting are purpose driven spending and changing the contracting process.

Purpose Driven Spending
The most common view of a commercial painting project is simple maintenance and facilities up-keep. Justifying painting and coating projects as preventative maintenance is relatively easy because the surface treatment can prevent damages to the underlying structure. If the budget separates preventative maintenance funds from operating costs, you could package and combine the painting project according to its true purpose to get the funding from your management team.

However, painting and coating can be a lot more than simple up-keep. In a retail setting, the appearance of a structure can a have a direct impact on the amount of business the facility is able to attract. If the current maintenance budget cannot support a painting project, perhaps the marketing budget could.

Changing the Contracting Process
As a commercial painting budget solution, changing the contracting process may seem like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. However, the savings from a new way of administering contracts can be significant, especially if your facility does a lot of outsourcing.
Many large organizations adapt a job order contracting system (JOC ) to handle their contracting process. A JOC system is a type of indefinite demand and indefinite quantity contracting system which relies of pre-defined base prices for services. Contractors bid by multiplying the base prices by a selected co-efficient.

JOC systems are often used by schools, government agencies and other organizations to streamline their contracting process. The real savings come from reduced advertising costs, reduced administrative needs, and a quicker RFP to finished project time. According to a white paper published by Centennial Contractors Enterprise, Inc., the savings associated with a JOC system can be up to 21 percent of standard costs.

The advantage of a JOC system is that once in place to cover a painting project, the system is equally applicable to virtually every other outsourced aspect of facilities budgeting. However, if you are not currently using a JOC system, you should strongly consider hiring an expert consultant to help you implement the program.

Final Words
Facility budgets are not likely to increase anytime soon, so creative solutions are a must to find room in the budget for commercial painting, construction and maintenance projects. In the end, whether your company chooses purpose driven spending or changing the contracting process, the ability to establish a companywide logical decision-making process and get management buy-in is critical to the company's success in managing your commercial painting budget.

Zero Based Budgeting

The concept of zero based budgeting was introduced in 1960. The concept was initially used for some government and business organizations and more recently has increased attention. Zero based budgeting is a budget-planning procedure for the reevaluation of an organization's program and expenditures.

It requires each manager to justify the entire budget request in detail and places the burden of proof on the manager to justify why authorization to spend any money at all should be granted. It starts with the assumption that zero will be spent on each activity-thus the term "zero base". What a manager is already spending is not accepted as starting point. Managers are asked to prepare for each activity or operation under their control a "decision package" that includes an analysis of cost, purpose alternative course of action, measure of performance, sequences of not performing the activity, and benefits. The zero based budgeting approach asserts that in building the budget from zero, two types of alternative should be considered by managers: (1) different ways of performing the same activity and (2) different levels of effort in performing the activity.

Success in implementing zero based budgeting requires linkage of zero based budgeting to the long range planning process, sustained support and commitment from executive management, innovation among the managers who makeup the budget decision packages, sale of the procedure to people must perform the work necessary to keep the concept vigorous. Sound budgeting procedure should always require a careful evaluation of all operating facts each time the budget is prepared. There fore the zero based budgeting procedure is new and unique mainly in approach rather than in basic planning and control philosophy.

Budgeting For the American Single-Mom

Being a single parent myself I know how difficult it can be to budget money, especially when you have hardly any coming in. However, it can be done. These are the things that have been working for me and I am sure there will be something here for you as well.

First of all you have to have at least a general idea of what is going out compared to what is coming in. Take a look at your monthly (or weekly expenses if that's easier for you), what is going out towards rent, utilities, groceries, clothing, cigarettes, coffee, school lunches, etc. It will be a tedious task but really getting specific with this once will save you so much agony in the end. Next look at what you have coming in; now you don't have to count every penny, if you have a family member that sends you money on occasion or a small bonus at work don't count that - it will be a welcomed surprise when you least expect it.

When I first did this I found that I had just over $200 every month that I had to pay out which could not be accounted for in my income. I was magically having to come up with an extra $200 every single month, I must have been doing it but I don't know how. So don't be surprised if this happens to you at first.

Once you have these basic elements in place you can take a real and bracing look at just where your finances stand. The next step is two-fold; first see if there is anything that can be taken away, while at the same time thinking about where you could get some help. You would be surprised how much money you may be sending on your morning coffee alone - you don't have to give it up, you could make it at home. Another priceless piece of information is that there are MANY community based, state and federal programs set-up to help single parents; things like childcare assistance, assistance with transportation and school lunch costs, your kids may even be eligible to eat breakfast for free at school. You could see of your local Department of Employment and Training offers free or discounted bus passes, talk to your schools, any local Community Action Counsels, and don't be ashamed to apply for state subsidized childcare - these programs a generally better than the others as they are required to stand up against strict government and state regulations. There is some leg work involved but it is worth it!

The trick to a lasting and realistic budget is actually simple. See what you have compared to what you need, gather local resource information, and ask for help.