Based on the fact that inflexibility has been frequently claimed as a budgetary weakness, the aim of this paper is to examine whether nowadays companies are set to react to changes in the business environment. This article presents the results of a survey of 136 Czech companies.

Budgets are defined as detailed quantitative plans for acquiring and using financial and other resources over a specified time period (Garrison, Noreen & Brewer, 2014). According to Drury (2015), budgeting also aids planning, coordination, communication, motivation, controlling and evaluation of performance. Becker and his team (2016) point out that the period of economic crises has emphasized the benefits of selected budget functions, in particular, the allocation of resources. On the other hand, this statement contradicts the longstanding critique of budgeting as a tool that is inappropriate for a dynamic environment because traditional budgets are focused on results, not on causes, support outdated stereotypes of thinking and are very time-consuming (Hope & Fraser, 2003; Neely, Bourne & Adams, 2003, Libby & Lindsay, 2010). The negative view of the benefits of budgeting is confirmed by the study from Lorain, Demonte, and Peláez (2015). Their research showed that 83 % of companies agree with the statement that it is difficult to forecast exact financial data. This survey also reveals that 64 % of companies believe that once budgets have finally been approved, the budget figures become obsolete.

A survey of Czech budgetary practice was performed from December 2016 to July 2017. About 1490 companies were contacted and 136 of them completed the web-based questionnaire (9% response rate). The most significant findings from this pilot research are the following: (i) 58% of respondents answered that the budget in their enterprise is adjusted during the year in connection with unpredictable developments; (ii) 83% of respondents measure quantitative deviations, 86.5% of them at monthly intervals; (iii) 33% of respondents measure quality deviations, 79.3% of them at monthly intervals; (iv) for the statements "Unpredictability of the environment does not permit compiling an accurate budget" and "Once the budget is approved, it becomes obsolete" more than 63% of respondents chose "I disagree", "I totally disagree" or "I rather disagree".