Board Meeting Presentation

That depends on the size, type and general policies at the company. Small, closely held corporations will hardly have a formal budget, let alone a process of review, approval and presentation to the board, which are often the same people who are the shareholders and officers of the corporation.

Larger corporate entities, with a BOD consisting of largely outside members may or may not have a process of formal budget approval by the board. Others will have specific processes and procedures, some outlined in certain by-laws, requiring the annual budget to be presented and approved in a BOD meeting.

In my design of internal control over financial reporting engagements, I make sure that under entity level controls, the board of directors is made aware of an approved budget by management, is given the opportunity to review it and formally approves it in a board meeting, as evidenced in the meeting minutes.

Another option is for the audit committee of the BOD (publicly traded companies) to get involved directly, review and approve the budget without full board approval, or prior to the full board approval in a BOD meeting.

From what I have seen in several corporations I have worked with, the level of information provided is usually the entire budget (in electronic format, prior to any meetings or discussions) with a hard copy of the summary pages presented at the actual meeting.