Following the publication of the book "Modern Costing and Greek Accounting Standards," Astbooks considers one of the key responsibilities of an accountant to be their involvement in designing reports for management and, consequently, in making corporate decisions. They continue with the publication of the book "Budgeting – Reporting - Cash Flow - Cash Management" to largely cover the needs of accountants in a modern entity regarding financial analysis and management accounting.

The goal is to convert the dynamics of a business into numbers in conjunction with its plans and the emerging developments. The application of the Greek Accounting Standards (hereafter G.A.S.), while not critical to the budgeting and financial analysis process, is taken for granted for obvious reasons outlined in the book.

The subject of budgeting, cash flow, and cash management has a vast scope, and there are dozens of approaches from both Greek and foreign literature that can ultimately mislead the accountant. To avoid this, the book presents some introductory elements, while all applications contained within it specifically address small and medium-sized entities operating in our country during the 3rd decade of the 21st century that apply G.A.S.

This book is expected to be useful to accountants, primarily of medium and small entities across all sectors, as it provides them with the necessary support for preparing the budget and cash flow planning of a business. The modern accountant can lead small and medium enterprises to find best practices and avoid risks that threaten their future trajectory.

Moreover, the accountant, who is also responsible for the finances and management of an entity, should not spend all their time on bookkeeping and compliance with legal obligations. Instead, they should be able to deeply evaluate the data, identify risks and opportunities, thus participating significantly in the strategic planning of the entity as a key and valuable partner.

Chapter 1 is crucial for the colleague to organize for the first time or evaluate the existing budgeting system of an entity, considering the available time in conjunction with the benefits from the process. Budgeting techniques and, subsequently, cash flow planning along with other more practical issues will follow.

It is clear that the choice of budgeting and cash flow - cash management processes requires the judgment and experience of the executives involved and cannot be standardized absolutely. For this reason, Chapter 1 contains those elements that, along with knowledge of the entity's subject matter, will assist the colleague participating in organizing the processes.

In Chapters 2 and 3, with examples and applications, we will develop the techniques for drafting the budget for revenues and expenses for each function separately. Conversely, we will describe the correlation of each expense with the functions and departments of a business. From the individual revenues and expenses, the overall budget of the business will emerge.

Chapters 4 and 5 follow with a complete and detailed application of what has been mentioned in the previous chapters, initially emphasizing the budgeting process applied by a small or medium entity in a period (financial year). In each phase of the process, we present the conclusions derived from the data that have been formed.

Once the budgeting process is completed, we continue with the financial analysis of the business, introducing the concepts of "break-even point" and "sensitivity analysis." In Chapter 6, following the preparation of the budgeted results (p&l budget) and with the help of the related ratios defined, the balance sheet and cash flows are also budgeted.

Subsequently, the importance of financial analysis and what was mentioned in the previous chapters is highlighted, focusing on its application in a very small entity. Finally, in Chapter 7, concise guidelines are provided to the reader preparing a budget for the first time, allowing them to become more familiar with the process. During the financial year, they may seek more detailed guidelines in the previous chapters.