Groups and organizations that come together for a purpose must have ways to keep track of what they spend and make plans for future spending.
Budgets are a detailed plan of how a group or organization plans to use its resources. Both the expected income and the expected expenses must be set out in the budget.
It is important for organizations to have systems in place to record income and expenses as well as checks and balances to ensure that money is being spent according to the budget.
Financial Statements, including an Income Statement and a Balance Sheet, show funds the organization has received and expenses the organization has paid.
Organizations spend a lot of time looking at what was spent and what is being spent right now but to be effective they also need to look ahead to what income and expenses they expect in the future.