Budget Policies, Procedures, Terms, and
Conditions.

Budget Policies, Procedures, Terms, and Conditions.

Our budget cycle periods - dates.

Budget Cycle Period One (1) - Jan. to March,
Budget Cycle Period Two (2) - April to June,
Budget Cycle Period Three (3) - July to September,
Budget Cycle Period Four (4) - October to December. (new year starts Jan. 2nd.).

Submission process. -

All items are to be approved for any payment that is required for any item during any single
budget cycle or through all 4 budget cycles must be submitted and approved by our
accounting staff no later than 30 days prior to the start of the budget cycle in which payment
is being sought for.
For example if you are wishing payment for April. That item would of had to been submitted to
us and approved by us no later than March 1st or 30 days from the date in which payment is
being requested. This is for any budget item or item expense related any of the projects C&E
is working on at this time over the amount of $300.00.

Exemptions. -

Exemptions are allowed on a individual basis but still these individual items must be
submitted by us via the budget process for approval. This approval process may take up to 3
to 6 weeks or longer depending on the amount being requested for payment, the terms of the
contract or invoice being submitted, and or the status of items that have already been
approved for payment by the company during that period of time and where as this new
payment request may interfere with the request for funds already approved for staff us and
being made available to them at that time.
They (the payment requests) that have already been approved by our staff for each budget
cycle take priority over those who are submitting new items for exemption for payment. This
also may require to draw down investment or debt funds (lines of credit) which our accounting
staff may not wish to do at the time in which the item is being submitted for approval.
Thus the item may have to wait until the next budget cycle before being approved for payment
and placed into the budget for payment if it is an ongoing payment from us to the vendor
submitting the payment request.

The Approval Process. -

A set budget is completed for each month of each cycle (3) three months ahead of the start of
that budget month and cycle. For example - April 2013's monthly budget was approved back
in Late December 2012 and early Jan. 2013.
With an "over budget dollar pool" (lines of credit or debt funds (investor funds) For example:
Lets say we have a construction contract with a cost over run above the approved budget
allotment. We don't use investor funds in the general course of business operations for
payment issues.
That amount submitted that is over-budget is then tagged (flagged) as a monthly budget overbudget
expense item and then deducted from the over all amount in the "over budget pool"
(debt fund (investor funds) or line of credits) to allow for the unexpected costs, the new
services, and or the new items being submitted by the C&E staff for payment or approval to
be paid.
Each new contract or payment is then placed into that "over budget pool" (debt fund (investor
funds) or line of credits) along with all other submissions for that month and then balanced
against our current operational budget and if its a "one time" payment request for an item or
service, or a monthly service or payment request for a extended period of time.

Budget Pools -

In which case (where a over budget pool of funds has been created out of revenues and
profits or a line of credit the company has and is available for a specific budget cycle) that
amount is then placed into all the appropriate "over budget pools" (debt fund (investor funds)
or line of credits)created and approved for each budget month, and in which this individual
service or contract payment is being requested for for the entire length of the contract or
service agreement.
Then a value analysis is run to see if the value of the service or contract in which seeking
approval for payment and is being requested from us by a vendor or individual or corporation
is such that it will be either: A). a long term savings to the company or its affiliates, or B). the
cost benefit to C &E for a short term or a long term will bring us a revenue enhancement
benefit to C&E. Either in higher revenues or in lower operating costs.
These pools (debt fund (investor funds) or line of credits) buffer our actual budget used for the
magazine monthly and all the other content projects under planning. Thus if the pools (debt
fund (investor funds) or line of credits) are used up or go over the set limits approved then
they may be used in these cases.
The pools (debt fund (investor funds) or line of credits) also act as checks and balances as
they require us to constantly look at our revenues, profits, operational costs, budget planning,
project costs, marketing costs, IT costs, and other issues on our budget operations plan and
pay close attention to the basis for those payments and how they affect our overall operations
of the company. These reviews are done and on a month to month basis to insure that our
core business model is protected and where waste is being incurred that its cut or removed
as quickly as possible.

Priority -

Priority is given to items that provide both a short term and long term cost savings benefit and
or provide a revenue enhancement
(meaning: we see either the increase of revenues from either: the cost savings experienced
by the company by implementing the new service or item being requested for payment or that
we see "actual" significant increased revenues from signing up for the new service,
or item being requested to be paid with that "significant revenue" being above the overall
current revenues to the company and the cost of the purchase of the new service or item to
the company by purchasing such a new service or item that is being requested to be paid)
being deducted from those new revenue increases.)
Simply: There has to be a "real" benefit to C&E in order for us to justify the purchase or
contract. Then we go down the list from there.
Once the over budget pool (debt fund (investor funds) or line of credits) allotment is reached
by all of the submissions during the month or the year including "the year" we are talking
about currently for those contracts with either monthly payments for extended period of time.
Then the budget goes back to the advisor group for a re-look to see if the actual cost savings
and or revenue benefits promised or discussed to us by the providers of those services or
contracts have actually materialized and if we (C&E) have actually benefited from a new
service or item that we are now paying for or have paid for.

Review process -

We look at all of our processes. Our billing process is not different. When we did not have a
billing process we got sucked dry with most of what was purchased was not worth the money
paid for them.

When we feel like the service or item we just purchased does not meet what we feel we were
told. We will first look at the reasons these benefits did not occur to see how much of that
responsibility was on us as an organization (training, meetings, scheduling, materials, etc)
and how much is related to the item or service we purchased or are paying for. (no training,
no materials, bad software, lack of modules needed for our staff to do their jobs that were
promised in sales pitch, over charging of services above the fee expressly explained in the
sales process)

Other items such but not limited to unneeded design charges, unneeded band with charges,
widget charges, and other charges not approved prior to being charged.
If we find that its (the problems being experienced) are mostly all on the items or service that
we paid for or are on contract we will discontinue the service or product or ask for a refund
where possible.
 

Special note to vendors:
 

We may do this anyway even in cases where we are are somewhat responsible for the nonperformance
of a service or item we paid for or are paying for as it may be a situation where
our staff may have tried and tried to work with a service or item sold to us and without
success and as a result of that lack of success they (the staff) may not of been trained well on
the process, the product, the service, or the item itself and thus was either unable to use the
service or item, or the item or service did not work as well or as efficiently as promised to our
staff at the time of the sale of the item or service to C&E.

We also in some cases may use this review process to write about our experience with a
service or an item in our magazine in order to help others who may be interested in similar
services and wonder what other companies experiences have been with a certain product or
service.

This entire review process can take up to 90 days or longer by C&E management staff to
insure it (all aspects of the issue) are looked at objectively and that all sides are taken into
account on the issue in dispute before a decision is made by the management of C &E. In
some cases we may take it to arbitration for a ruling on the issue or give it to our legal staff for
resolution if no resolution is possible after all of the above efforts are exhausted.

The budget pools for new budget cycle - How are they approved?

Once the review budget cycle process has been done, a new pool (debt fund (investor funds)
or line of credits)amount is approved for the next budget cycle to account for the new items
and services added to our monthly budgets.
The amount to be added is calculated using the following formula 1.) on the increased sales
(or the lack thereof) for that budget cycle 2. Net revenues (real versus estimated) for both the
budget cycle and the individual budget months within the cycle, 3.) Any upcoming big budget
expansion plans outside of the pool (debt fund (investor funds) or line of credits), 4.) overall
company growth numbers overall, 5.) actual operational costs versus estimates, and other
factors such as cost savings from cutting services, products that were draining our resources
and not providing a cost benefit, or a revenue enhancement to the company. The new pool
(debt fund (investor funds) or line of credits) amount would start the budget cycle month or
budget cycle period after its approved by our budget advisor group.

Your responsibility as someone selling to us:

We are purchasing your item or service based on your sales approach to our needs in a large
number of conversations and sales data presented to us by your firm. Once you sell the
service or product to us or if we agree to purchase the product or service on a contractual
basis. We are dependent on your company, who has sold us the service or product to insure
our staff understands it, they (staff/management is able to use it in the way you say it is to be
used as part of our company operations, that its easy for our staff to use, that it fits our needs
as expressed in all our sales conversations that led us to purchase it, and that it either saves
us money in our operations, or more importantly makes us money for the company.

Management has given this power to the advisor group to do this on our behalf in order to
balance our accounts to prevent to much waste and loss where possible. Waste of funds is a
big issues for our staff. We hate to find out after the service was sold to us, unexpected
charges, limited use issues, poor performance, overcharging versus the fact unknown to us at
the time of purchase that the very same service or product of equal quality was on the market,
but was overlooked in the selection process by our staff. It drives our staff nuts when these
things happen.

Our responsibility. -

Its our responsibility to be at the training's, the implement the product or service into our
operations as quickly and to take over the operation of the product or item as quickly as
possible once we understand it. That we read the various training modes provided by your
firm to our team, to test out (the product or service) for a sufficient period of time in order to
see if it fits our needs and or to see if it actually helps or hinders our ability to meet our goals
and solve some of our needs issues.
If we do all of that and things still don't work, or if we find out that we have over paid for the
service or item, or it only does half of what we thought it was supposed to do, or you do not
work with us after you sell it to us, or it has either not saved us money, or produced revenue
leading to some profit to justify the cost of the item or service. We may cut it if those issues
can be resolved over time. Simple.

Final word,

Profit is #1 with us, and Keeping costs low is #2, along with not being taken advantage of is
#3. on our top 10 list. Thank you in advance in understanding our budget process and helping
us adhere to its policies and conditions.