If this style of budgeting is used, budgets are prepared from top-down direction, i.e. senior management sets the high-level budget (often just basic numbers) without collecting detailed information from operating staff. This total general target is then broken down into detailed budget.
The process is reversed to bottom-up budgeting.
The advantages and disadvantages of top-down budgeting can be derived from those described in term bottom-up budgeting.