Nowadays the prediction of the settlement of shallow foundation is almost carried out by using the result of the oedometer test, in which the lateral expansion of soil mass is excluded. Geotechnical engineering software, such as Plaxis, Geostudio, Flac, Midas-GTS-NX, etc, are capable of solving most geotechnical problems, taking into account the lateral expansion of soil mass. The comparison between the result procured when using the classically analytical method and the result obtained with the help of the geotechnical engineering software show us an enormous divergence. It can be explained by the difference in approaches of solving the question between numerical method and analytical method, in which the effect of lateral expansion of soil mass is neglected. Therefore, the authors suggest a method to improve the prediction of settlement basing on the studies of Russian scientists in the 1960s, taking into account the effect of lateral expansion of soil mass below the shallow foundation. The result of the article can be considered to predict the long-term, short-term settlement as well as the settlement at any moment of soil consolidation with the acceptable difference when comparing with the results given from the nowaday geotechnical engineering software.