An assessment of management skills on capital budgeting planning and practices: evidence from the small and medium enterprise sector

Budgets are a compass and guiding light for businesses. Therefore, management and owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must carry out suitable and precise capital budgeting activities and methods to ensure business longevity and progression. There is a high risk of SMEs failing soon after they are found, with one likely cause being poor management skills. Thus, the study aims to assess the management skills of the capital budgeting planning and practices of SMEs. The objective is to ascertain the influence of management skills and owners on current capital budgeting planning and practice. The study adopted the quantitative method by administering questionnaires to 108 owners and managers in the Springfield Industrial Park. The findings of the study indicate that owners and managers were solely responsible for decision-making. Secondly, owners and managers lacked the financial skills, ability to control and lead staff. The study was limited to owners and managers in the SMEs and therefore cannot be inferred to any other area or subject/s. Future studies can be conducted in other regions, of which a comparative study is recommended that owners and managers in SMEs improve their business knowledge, as well as upskilling their financial ability in the capital budgeting process. Thus, the implications of improving owners and manager’s business knowledge will lead to timeous, smarter, and informed decision-making. It is therefore recommended that owners and managers take up short courses to improve computer literacy and financial skills in business processes.