The budgeting process is one of the important tasks to every manager. It serves as a guideline on how resources should be utilized. Generally, a budget does not only provide a direction for a business, but it also helps management to align costs to business objectives. Company A manufactures product Alpha using two types of materials, namely: Materials X and Y. Due to prevailing economic headwinds in the country, the company has resorted to vigorous cost cutting measures. For such a reason, a strict prudent policy has been put in place. In order to ensure customer satisfaction, the company is busy planning for its January 2020 production needs. According to the company's records, November and December sales amount to 210 and 280 units, respectively. It takes two hours to manufacture a unit at an hourly rate of N$12. 2020 \begin{tabular}{|l|c|} \hline Anticipated monthly sales & 250 \\ \hline Selling price per unit & N$1500 \\ \hline Anticipated finished goods inventory: 30 December & 50 \\ 2019 & \\ \hline Anticipated finished goods inventory: 31 January 2020 & 10% of previous month's sales \\ \hline \end{tabular} \begin{tabular}{|l|l|c|} \hline \multicolumn{2}{|l|}{ REQUIRED: Prepare each of the following budget for January 2020: } & MARKS \\ \hline 9.1. & Sales budget & 1.5 \\ \hline 9.2. & Production budget & 3 \\ \hline 9.3. & Material purchase budget (N\$) & 11 \\ \hline 9.4. & Labour budget (N\$) & 2.5 \\ \hline 9.5. & In what way a budget may aid the business to align its costs to its objectives? & 2 \\ \hline \end{tabular}