Budgeting is allocating limited resources to unlimited needs and aims to maximise the use of resources that are usually scarce. In the face of these scarce resources, continuous attention to planning, allocating resources, and budgeting is an undeniable necessity. The importance of the budget in universities that receive their credits from the government is much greater because of their significant role in society’s scientific and cultural orientation of the younger generations. It is evident that incorrect budgeting will cause mistakes in allocating resources in this critical field and will cause severe damage to the country at the national level. Hence, reforming the methods of budgeting and distribution of resources in Iraqi public universities is one of the primary necessities. Therefore, the current research has investigated the feasibility of establishing operational budgeting in Iraqi public universities based on the PESTEL model. The study period is 2022, and the research community is Iraqi public universities (35 universities), of which 15 top universities were selected as a statistical sample. The research data were collected using 198 questionnaires completed by financial managers, accounting experts in financial affairs, and experts specializing in budgeting in sample universities. The results of hypothesis testing showed that all aspects of the study, including political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal, affect the establishment of operational budgeting in Iraqi public universities, and all the research hypotheses are confirmed. In other words, it was found that the political, economic, social, technical, environmental, and legal factors identified in the current research are significant for establishing operational budgeting in Iraqi public universities. It is suggested that legislators and budgeting planners prioritise these factors and rely on them in making decisions since experts approved these stimuli in the field of operational budgeting in the strategic environment of universities and according to the current conditions prevailing in Iraq. © 2023 by the authors.
