Correction
Factor Budget Calculators, Created by David Alderoty, September, 2009
You can
contact me at RunDavid@verizon.net,
Phone (212) 581-3740 or Click here for a
Web-Form
This website contains special
calculation devices for planning and carrying out a budget, available for free,
in three formats: Online, Excel and OpenOffice.org. The devices compare your budget plans,
with the way you actually carried out your budget, and then numbers are
calculated that tell you how accurately you predicted expenses, and how well you
followed your budget. For
the
downloads or instructions
scroll all the way down beneath the Oline Clculator.
Note: if you're looking for
instructions for the online version of the Correction
Factor Budget Calculator , scroll all the way down past the download
sections, until you see the words Instructions For The Online Basic
Correction Factor Budget Calculator
Free Downloads: Special Budget Calculators in the Excel
and Openoffice.Org Format
The above is the
Online version of the Basic Correction Factor Budget
Calculator. If you want to use the Basic
Correction Factor Budget Calculator for a practical budget, you should
download the Excel and/or OpenOffice.org versions by left clicking on one of the
links at the end of this paragraph.
The online version is in the JavaScript format, and is primarily for
demonstration purposes, because it cannot save the information you enter. The Excel and OpenOffice.org versions are
designed to save the data you enter, but they require Microsoft Windows. You can also open a printer friendly
version of the Online Basic Correction Factor Budget Calculator, which
does not require Windows, by clicking on the appropriate link below.
If
you want the Basic Correction Factor Budget Calculator in the Excel format left
click on these words.
Downloads For More
Complex Correction Factor Budget Calculators
The
following budget calculators calculate correction factors for each individual
item that was entered, as well as for the total expenses and income. In addition, these devices will graph
the results. You may find that
these devices are too complex for a practical budget, in which case you should
use the devices presented above.
If you
want the above in the OpenOffice.org format, left click on these
words.
If you
want the above in the OpenOffice.org format, left click on these
words.
Instructions
For The Online Basic Correction Factor Budget
Calculator
Note, these instructions are for the online version of the
Basic
Correction Factor Budget Calculator. The other versions provided for
download, come with their own instructions. However, all of the devices operate in
roughly similar ways, and they all (including the online version) display calculated results in red.
The Basic
Correction Factor Budget Calculator is designed for planning and carrying out a
budget. It calculates total income,
total expenses, the balance, and a number of other calculations. However, what makes this budget
calculator unusual is it calculates correction factors that show how precisely
you planned and carried out your budget.
The instructions are outlined in sequence below:
1)
To use this budget calculator, you
start by planning a budget in advance, for a specific time period. For example,
your planned budget period can be for one month, such as from March 1 to March
31.
2)
Then, you enter in the light blue
sections of the calculator, your estimated income (the money you expect to put
into the budget,) and your estimated expenses, for the budget period. The headings on the blue columns are
labeled Total Predicted Income, and Total Predicted Expenses, and the calculated
results will appear in the blue boxes, on top of the columns.
3)
Keep in mind that all of the above
should be completed before you actually start your budget.
4)
When you are ready to start your
budget, you must enter a start date and an end date for your budget, in the two
boxes with red borders on top of the Budget
Calculator.
5)
When you start your budget you
enter your actual income, and actual expenses in the light-yellow columns. This can be done on a daily basis, or
whenever you have new expenses or income to enter into the
calculator.
6)
This budget calculator will
calculate the actual total income, actual expenses, and balance, and it will
displayed the results in the yellow boxes.
This calculator will also calculate correction factors, as you enter
income and expenditures. (The final
results of the correction factors after the budget period has expired, is
important. It will tell you how well you planned and carried out your budget.)
7)
The correction factors are based
on comparisons of the estimates you entered for income and expenses in the blue
sections, with the actual income and actual expenses you entered in the yellow
sections.
8)
A correction factor of 1 means you
carried out your budget exactly as you planned. Correction factors that are greater than
1 mean you underestimated, and less than 1 means you overestimated. Underestimating income may not be
problematic. However,
underestimating expenses or overestimating income might result in a shortage of
funds.
9)
If you are not sure that you can
plan and estimate your budgets with a reasonable degree of precision, or if you
have repeatedly estimated your budget poorly, you can remedy your problem, by
doing one or both of the following.
10)
Enter the word miscellaneous
expenses, in the blue section, and allocate enough money to act as a safety
margin, for underestimated expenses.
Some people will have better results, if they enter several categories of
miscellaneous expenses, such as miscellaneous entertainment, miscellaneous
repair bills, miscellaneous medical bills, etc.
11)
The Basic Correction Factor Budget
Calculator has INPUT BOXES for correction factors, to deal with inadequate
budget planning, or poor estimates of income and expenses. This is especially useful for people
that repeatedly underestimate or overestimate, by roughly the same amount. For example let us assume that this
budget calculator has calculated correction factors for your past budgets of
0.75, for your income, and 1.5, for your expenses. This means your estimates are not
accurate, but if you enter these correction factors into the correction factor
input boxes for your future budgets the estimates will be corrected to the
degree indicated by the correction factors.
12)
The correction factor input boxes
are light green, and they contain a default correction factor of 1. When the correction factor is changed to
a value less than or greater than 1, the estimated totals and related balance
will change, in the blue boxes.
However, the calculations for the actual income and expenditures, in the
yellow sections are not affected by the numbers in the correction factor input
boxes.
13)
In general, most people,
organizations and governments have a tendency to underestimate their
expenses. There is also somewhat of
a tendency to overestimate revenue.
This is a form of financial over optimism. To correct for this over optimism enter
a correction factor of at least 1.25 in the correction factor input box for
expenses. If your income is from a
variable source, such as business profits, you should probably enter a
correction factor of 0.9 or less, in the correction factor input box, for
income.
14)
If you see a zero (0) or negative
sign (-), it means the budget has expired, based on the date that was entered
into the calculator.
15)
Note: If you see the words:
Missing-Data, in one of the green display boxes for correction factors, it means
you did not enter numbers in the blue column for income or the blue column for
expenses.
My Name is David
Alderoty, and I Designed and Built This Website and the Budget
Calculators.
I can design
user-friendly calculation devices, in the Excel, OpenOffice.org, and Online
JavaScript formats, to precise Specifications, for arithmetic, accounting,
algebra, trigonometry, correlations, calculus, etc. In addition, I can create attractive and
unusual online communication forms, and websites. I write instructions for the devices I
create, which can be put on a website in the form of conventional text, and/or
an audio format.
I can
provide the services mentioned above, based on permanent or temporary
employment, or in terms of an individual service. My resume is online at: www.David100.com/R, and a list
of my websites is at www.David100.com.
If you need
my services, or have any questions or comments, You can
call me at (212) 581-3740. You can
e-mail me RunDavid@Verizon.net. You can also send your message in a
website communication form, by left clicking on the blue words: WEB FORM. My address is
If you are
a great distance from my locality, or are in a foreign country, this is not
important. I can provide the
services mentioned above worldwide, because the calculation devices, web forms
and websites I make can be delivered through the Internet to any
locality.