Evaluate the following statements about budgets: 1) Budgets can be used as steering, concurrent, and feedback controls. 2) The most important aspect of a budget variance is its sign (positive/negative

Let's analyze each statement regarding budgets:

• Statement 1: "that budgets can be used as steering controls and concurrent controls, but not as feedback controls"

  • Steering controls (feedforward controls): Budgets are established before an activity begins to guide future actions and prevent deviations. This is a correct use.
  • Concurrent controls: Budgets can be monitored during an activity to ensure performance stays on track. This is also a correct use.
  • Feedback controls: Budgets are compared to actual results after an activity is completed to evaluate performance, identify deviations, and inform future planning. This is a crucial function of budgets.
  • Therefore, the statement that budgets cannot be used as feedback controls is incorrect.

• Statement 2: "that the most important aspect of a budget variance is whether it is positive or negative"

  • While the sign (positive/favorable or negative/unfavorable) of a budget variance is important, it is not the most important aspect. The magnitude of the variance and, critically, its underlying cause are often more significant for managerial decision-making and corrective action. A large variance, regardless of its sign, requires investigation.
  • Therefore, this statement is generally considered incorrect as it oversimplifies the importance of variance analysis.

• Statement 3: "that a budget variance is the difference between actual results and anticipated results"

  • This is the precise definition of a budget variance. It measures the deviation between what was planned (anticipated/budgeted results) and what actually occurred (actual results).
  • Therefore, this statement is correct.

Based on the analysis, only statement (3) is correct. The question instructs to select the one correct answer choice if not all of (1) through (3) are correct.

The final answer is $\boxed{\text{that a budget variance is the difference between actual results and anticipated results}}$