[lordnacho]

>Spending time writing documentation does not mean less time is spent coding, it means less time is spent coding that day, but then that is offset by time gained when someone later has to modify it and can finish sooner, thereby increasing the time available for coding other features.

Exactly. But when managers don't see it that way, you have the utilization paradox: people are constantly working but constantly behind.

>So, the issue is not one of budget, but of accounting.

Yes and no. The two are intertwined. If accounting and estimation were correct, the budget would be correct on average. Instead, the budget is on average less that what it's supposed to be, because people do not account for everything.