Successful Kaizen Starts With Kaizen Budgeting

What kind of financial plan do you think the most successful retail chain in the world uses? If you guessed that Walmart follows the practice of Kaizen Budgeting, you would be right! Every month, Walmart's expenses go down and their profits go up, and the stores themselves are constantly improving. That's a perfect example of how the system works, and here's the low-down.

"Kaizen" is a term in Japanese meaning "continuous improvement." In the business world the term frequently refers to making small improvements in throughout the organization. Improvements accumulate little by little to make a huge difference. Business, marketing, manufacturing - every part of the company should constantly be seeking ways to improve their work and processes so that they are easier, more profitable, and more efficient. Doing this results in increased revenue and decreased costs, while providing the company the edge on competing companies.

Kaizen Budgeting: The Concept of Constantly Improving Finances

Kaizen, in Japanese, means "continuous improvement," that is "changing for the better." The word Kaizen denotes a principle. It shouldn't be confused with any specific guidelines or standards. The underlying principle behind the term is that even small and insignificant looking decisions, when effectively taken in business, can bring relatively larger output in terms of efficiency, productivity and thus profitability. The Kaizen principle is basically a systematic approach to business decision making guided by practical and logical metrics. Those companies which wish to adopt Kaizen decision making in business should effectively understand Kaizen budgeting.
In business, there is always pressure from a variety of sources. Consumers demand improvements in the quality of products. The producers of goods and services also compete among each other in order to gain a larger market for their products. They are under constant pressure to improve the quality of the product as well as after sales service so that they can control larger share in that particular product market providing them a leadership role. Even the small business decisions, effectively taken, can provide much-needed continuous improvement. This effective business decision making for continuous improvement is nothing but the Kaizen principle in action.

HMRC Warning on Paper Tax Returns

With the end of October a few short weeks away, HMRC have issued a warning to all those intending to complete paper tax returns in respect of the 2010/2011 tax year. Essentially the warning can be broken down into three parts:

1. The deadline for receipt of paper tax returns is midnight on Monday 31 October and any late returns will result in a fine of £100 with further fines after 3, 6 and 12 months.
2. The fine applies even if there is no tax to pay or if you pay any due tax on time.
3. If you send in a paper return late and then follow it up by filing a further copy online, the fine will still be applied.

HMRC have sent out just over 10 million Self Assessment returns/notices for the 2010/11 tax year and are getting tough on those who fail to complete their returns on time. This brings a simple choice. Either the paper return is completed and sent in for receipt by the end of October or the return is filed on line by 31 January. Either way there is little time left to start preparing for the return to be completed.