Goals help improve the overall effectiveness of budget planning. We see objectives are specific steps that are taken to reach goals. Also, defining goals and objectives to describe what will be financed is critical. Therefore, several states have developed plans that include goals and objectives (and results and outcomes) to create and sustain an early childhood system. States use this information to inform their early childhood budgets. That's why Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives is a good way to plan the steps to meet the long-term goals in your grant. It helps you take your grant from ideas to action. Setting SMART objectives keeps the project moving forward, helps with accountability and timing, and lets you know that you are accomplishing what you set out to accomplish