The concepts of the program budget system (PBS) include goal formulation, program definition, selection of program objectives, long-range program planning, management of operation, cost and responsibility control, and appraisal of results. In a broad sense, PBS is closely associated with every phase of planning and ties the various subsystems together. Instrumental to an effective PBS is a systematic approach to decision-making. PBS is structured to provide the total picture of the resources required, available, and used, and to determine how well the resources required, available, and used, and to determine how well the resources available are planned and, after the fact, how they were used. It is also involved in conducting current operations and in the appraisal of those results. PBS determines the way in which scarce resources are allocated among competing needs and how effectively these resources are used. The data requirements of PBS are merged with the fiscal accounting, personnel, and payroll needs to provide the basic source of financial and budget information for the entire department. Thus, the financial operating system becomes the integrated accounting system for management. In performing these business functions, the financial operating system provides the working unit with the two types of data needed: resources (men, money, and materials) and time (process and/or production values). These data are most effectively supplied from the integrated accounting system obtained through the use of electronic data processing. /author/
Abstract