Financial Management and Budgeting Skills Among Accounting Students: Basis for an Enhanced Financial Management Program

This quantitative descriptive–correlational study examined financial management and budgeting skills among 141 students enrolled in accountancy and accounting information systems programs at two campuses of Arellano University in the Philippines. A researcher-developed questionnaire assessed five financial-management domains (knowledge, behavior, attitude, capability, and planning) and three budgeting-skill domains (budget planning, expense tracking, and financial goal setting). Responses were summarized using frequency, percentage, and weighted means; the original thesis reported a Pearson correlation between the composite constructs. Financial attitude had the highest financial-management domain mean (M = 3.50), whereas budget planning had the highest budgeting-skill mean (M = 3.53). Expense tracking had the lowest budgeting-skill mean (M = 3.20), particularly the use of financial tools for daily expense tracking (M = 3.08). Financial management and budgeting skills were strongly positively associated, r(139) = .815, with the original study reporting p = .001. The findings suggest that favorable financial attitudes and planning intentions coexist with comparatively less consistent expense-tracking practices. An enhanced financial management program is proposed, incorporating applied budgeting simulations, expense-recording routines, digital and paper-based tracking, and measurable learning outcomes. Because the study is cross-sectional and based on self-report, findings should not be interpreted causally. The reported inferential statistics and instrument reliability require confirmation against original analytical records before submission.