Budget and Program Planning in Early Education Programs

Abstract

Budget and program planning are too often conducted as separate activities in the administration of an early education program. A cost analysis approach can effectively integrate them so that both program operations and financial management are combined and enhanced. The key to this approach is recognizing that both program and budget planning must focus on staff time. By analyzing staff time across the components of an early childhood program, one can analyze both program operations and their costs. The cost analysis system examines the program's personnel costs as well as nonpersonnel costs and in-kind contributions and provides a format for displaying a program's budget across its component parts.