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Ever gotten that feeling of anger and despair when you thought of working out a budget? Then the odds are good you've never looked up the word in a good dictionary and learned all about what this word really means, and worked out how you can use that to your company's financial advantage.

Want some really good News? Operating your company on a budget does not mean downgrading the quality of the things you buy or denying your company anything it needs to operate. What it does mean, is that you have to figure out how to make enough money to afford the items your business needs and to keep your spending within the limits of your income.

The even better news is this! The most valuable asset you have is your staff and yourself, and your income producing potential. If you want a bigger spending budget, then work out how your staff and you can be more productive to generate more income.

A second definition you need know is this: a BUDGET is the sum total of the money required for the organization to function, and to attain its goals.

Let's consider the first part of the definition; how much is needed for you and your company to function. Add up all the money you spent in the past year to see how much money went out the door including what you put on credit cards plus interest. Divide the total by 52 weeks, and multiply it by 1.036. The result is your weekly budget. That is the amount of money your company has to generate just to operate plus barely keep up with rising prices. That doesn't include paying compund interest on revolving credit debt.

More than likely, you have financial goals you also want the business to attain; That's the second part of the definition. Reaching those goals must become part of your budget as well.

Here is an example: a business owner wants to buy a new piece of equipment 6 months from now that costs $4,000. They divide the cost of the equipment by the 26 weeks they have before the target purchase date and learn they have to set aside $153.85 every week to have the cash for the equipment. This gets added to the budget, meaning the additional amount of income they have to put into the bank every week.

Most importantly, if you, the business owner, want to attain the goal of financial freedom - not working because you HAVE to, but because you WANT to -- then the most critical part of the budget needs to be the wealth building cash you set aside in an investment plan and never touch.

Figure out how much money you would have to have in savings to live without working. Divide that dollar amount by the number of weeks until the time you would like to be financially free. Figure out how to make that much more money each week, and your budget is on the correct path to gaining financial freedom.

Do you absolutely want to be a millionaire in 20 years? Figure out a way to increase the company's income enough to stash away $961.54 a week in savings for the next 1,040 weeks and you will be a millionaire! The additional interest growth on top of that will be a a nice add on perk that more than keeps up with the rise in the cost of living every year.

In this day and age of computers proper budgeting is accomplished much more efficiently than ever before by using Money Management Software, such as shown in this video.. This software operates as a companion to your accounting software for very efficient use with minimum manual effort.