Being able to market a product or service very well determines the success of the organization. That said, that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any restrictions or budgets on how much you can spend in that area. The marketing and administration budget must include data processing, accounting, personnel, marketing, utilities, etc. Sometimes it is very difficult to come up with this type of budget. Lanan et al., explained that a simple way to approach the problem is to start with the actual or budgeted amounts from the previous period and make adjustments for inflation, changes in operations, and similar changes between periods. This method has been criticized and can be considered very simplistic but it has an advantage. It's relatively easy and cheap. As always, the benefits resulting from improved budgeting methods must justify their increased costs. (Fundamentals of Cost Accounting, p 501) According to Kirk