Managing budgets in life sciences and related industries
Overview
This standard identifies the skills you need to prepare and manage projects budgets
for scientific or similar activities, in accordance with approved procedures and
practices.
Preparing and managing budgets requires meticulous planning and agreement
involving management, colleagues, customers/clients and a wide range of resources.
It is also important to have a good knowledge of planning and recording methods,
tools and techniques since the budget must be controlled and managed within
agreed limits. Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the methods, actions
and results of your work should be reviewed.
Your underpinning knowledge will enable you to use practical, theoretical or technical
understanding to address workplace problems that are well defined but complex and
non-routine.
Who this standard is for
The standard is recommended for senior laboratory staff.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
P1 ensure that your work is carried out in accordance with workplace procedures
to protect yourself and others
P2 evaluate available information and consult with others to prepare a realistic
budget for the respective area or activity of work
P3 submit the proposed budget to the relevant people in the organisation, for
approval and to assist the overall financial planning process
P4 discuss and, if appropriate, negotiate the proposed budget with the relevant
people in the organisation, and agree the final budget
P5 use the agreed budget to actively monitor and control performance for the
respective area or activity of work
P6 identify the causes of any significant variances between what was budgeted
and what actually happened, and take prompt corrective action, obtaining
agreement from the relevant people if required
P7 propose revisions to the budget, if necessary, in response to variances and/or
significant or unforeseen developments, and discuss and agree the revisions
with the relevant people in the organisation
P8 provide ongoing information on performance against the budget to relevant
people in your organisation
P9 gather information from implementation of the budget to assist in the
preparation of future budgets
P10 communicate the required information about the work done to authorised
people
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
K1 the health and safety requirements of the area in which you are carrying out
the activities
K2 the standard operating procedures, as set down in local laboratory manuals
K3 the limits of your own authority and to whom you should report if you have
problems that you cannot resolve
K4 the purposes of budgetary systems
K5 where to get, and how to evaluate, the available information in order to be able
to prepare a realistic budget
K6 how to discuss, negotiate and confirm a budget with people who control the
finances, and the key factors that should be covered
K7 the main causes of variances, how to identify them and what types of
corrective action which could be taken
K8 how unforeseen developments can affect a budget, and how to deal with them
K9 the importance of agreeing revisions to the budget and of communicating the
changes
K10 the importance of providing regular information on performance against the
budget to other people
K11 the importance of using the implementation of the budget to identify information
and lessons for the preparation of future budgets