O uso das informações de um sistema de custeio ABC no processo orçamentário : um estudo de caso no setor de seguro saúde

Abstract

The prime reason for the frequent criticism users in organizations make over the traditional budgeting process are based on the fact of it being apart of the actual company operational scenario, quite often due to the lack of commitment regarding the planned numbers and the inappropriate input of the system. The activity-based costing (ABC) system shows the detailed use of resources on the organization business processes, providing important means for both a cost strategic management and operational performance measurement, being so an adequate instrument to support planning. This work analyzes the applications of an ABC system information on a health insurance budgeting process, standing out the improvement obtained in the financial forecasts development and the decision making process quality. The analysis is focused on the traditional budgeting procedures (planning and control) improvements when the company begun to use the ABC system, giving the details of its applications in product cost allocation and profitability analysis, capacity planning, activity-based cost forecasts, diagnostic variance analysis and information technology projects control. The importance of the research problem, that intends to examine if the ABC system information being integrated with the traditional budgeting process improves the effectiveness of that management instrument in services organizations, is also justified because the case study evaluates a company that takes part of the Supplement Health Services System, a widely discussed subject in Brazil nowadays. The conclusions of this research indicate that an ABC system fits as a support tool for the budgeting process, showing different approaches that could be applied or tested in other organizations.