Ashford University Budgeting Excel work and analysis
Part 1:

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 4: Financial Forecasting in the textbook, and review the Personal Budget Resource Download Personal Budget Resource.
For this journal, complete two months of the Personal Budget Template
Then, evaluate your personal budget information and numbers from your completed Personal Budget Template. You may complete the template using your own personal financial data, which will make the activity more meaningful, or hypothetical numbers. Discuss the most important concepts and facts you learned. For example, were there any surprises in the amount or category of your expenses? Your reflection should be a minimum of 350 words.

Part 2:
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 4: Financial Forecasting in the textbook, and review the current financial statements of Starbucks through Yahoo! Finance Links to an external site.or the EDGAR | Company Filings Links to an external site.database in the Filings and Forms page. You can access the financial statements by going to the Yahoo! Finance webpage, typing in the stock symbol of Starbucks, and then clicking on the “Financials” tab. Watch the Week 1 Assignment video with Dr. Kevin Kuznia, DBA, CSSBB, PMP, available in the online classroom.
Reviewing the previous quarter’s financial statements will provide you with data to construct pro forma financial statements for Starbucks and make some basic projections. This week, you will be charged with constructing two pro forma financial statements and addressing some questions about your projections. The two financial statements will include an Income Statement and Balance Sheet.
1) To begin your assignment, download the Financial Forecasting Template Download Financial Forecasting Template.
2) Use the EDGAR | Company Filings Links to an external site.or Yahoo! Finance Links to an external site.database to download the last 10-Q from Starbucks into Excel. Use the downloaded data to complete the Income Statement and Balance Sheet on the appropriate tabs in the Financial Forecasting Template. Assume the following:
Sales will increase for the next quarter by the same percentage increase from the previous quarter to the last reported quarter. For example, if sales increased 8% from the last quarter to the current reported quarter, you will use 8% as the sales increase for your pro formas.
3) Calculate the expenses to determine what will change and what will remain the same.
Note: Not all costs are associated with the cost of sales. It will be up to you to determine which line items need to be increased and which ones need to be left alone. This will require you to distinguish between fixed and variable costs. For a reminder of the difference between fixed and variable costs, please watch the video Business Costs  ExplainedLinks to an external site..
4) Within each line item expense explain your rationale, as well as provide a brief summary.
5) Then, calculate a quarterly variance analysis using the Variance Analysis tab of the Financial Forecasting Template (the same template you used for Part 1). Complete the following in your variance analysis:
In the Excel template, insert the line items.
In Column C, (Q4, 20NN) enter the previous quarter’s numbers as the budget.
In Column D, (Q1, 20NN) enter the current quarter’s actual numbers.
In Column E, the spreadsheet will calculate the dollar difference between the budget and actual numbers.
In Column F, the spreadsheet will calculate the percentage change.
In Column G, analyze and speculate the rationale for the variances.