Agreed plans of action over a given period of time, eg 12 months, expressed in numerical terms. They concern targets relating to income, expenditure and profit, but may also concern planned activity levels, eg the number of hours to be worked, the number of units to be produced. See income, expenditure and profit budgets. They can be set yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, or even daily. They can also be produced for the firm as a whole, or the firm as a whole and its individual parts. For example, a marketing budget may concern the maximum spending on advertising per quarter, and a production budget, the number of units to produce per week. Reasons for setting budgets mainly concern the control of resources to maximise efficiency, profitability and performance. Problems in setting budgets mainly concern the numerous unforeseeable factors outside a business’s control which can impinge upon a business’s income and expenditure and devalue the figures contained within the budget. Benefits of using budgets mainly concern the control of resources to maximise efficiency, profitability, and performance. Drawbacks in using budgets mainly concern the numerous unforeseeable factors outside a business’s control, which can impinge upon a business’s income, expenditure, and profit and devalue the figures contained within the budget. See budgeting, budgetary control, variance analysis.