Local universities or government agencies may maintain offices that help small businesses and non-profits with financial planning. There are organizations like SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) that exist to assist with things like budgeting. Fortunately, there's help available, both within the organization (by hiring a bookkeeper, accountant, or CFO) and elsewhere. It's important to note that not everyone has the skills or desire to create and manage a budget single handed. It helps you avoid surprises and maintain fiscal control.It facilitates discussion of the financial realities of the organization.It fills the need for required information - the completed budget is a necessary element of funding proposals and reports to funders and the community.It encourages effective ways of dealing with money issues - by showing you what you can't afford with known income, a budget can motivate you to be creative - and successful - in seeking out other sources of funding.It gives you the real picture - by accurately showing you what you can afford and where the gaps in funding are, your budget allows you to plan beforehand to meet needs, and to decide what you're actually able to do in a given year.It sharpens your understanding of your goals.Your budget will likely begin with estimates, and as the year progresses, those estimates need to be adjusted to be as accurate as possible to keep track of what's really happening. Adjustments to reflect reality as the year goes on.If funding comes with restrictions, it's important to build those restrictions into your budget, so that you can make sure to spend the money as you've told the funder you would. What gets funded from which sources? In many cases, this is a condition of the funding: a funder agrees to provide money for a specific position, for instance, or for particular activities or items. The interaction of expenses and income.the amount you expect from each funding source, including not only grants and contracts, but also your own fundraising efforts, memberships, and sales of goods or services. The amount of money you expect to take in for the coming fiscal year, broken down by sources - i.e. In many organizations, the Board of Directors needs to approve a budget before the beginning of the fiscal year in order for the organization to operate. You'll want to prepare your budget specifically to cover your fiscal year, and to have it ready before the fiscal year begins. Most organizations adopt a fiscal year that fits with that of their major funders. State governments - and therefore state agencies and many community-based and non-profit organizations that receive state funding - usually use July 1 to June 30. The federal government's fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Businesses often use the calendar year - January 1 to December 31. There are many different fiscal years you can use. The amount of money you expect to spend in the coming fiscal year, broken down into the categories you expect to spend it in - salaries, office expenses, etc.įiscal year simply means "financial year," and is the calendar you use to figure your yearly budget, and which determines when you file tax forms, get audited, and close your books.
At some level, however, your budget will need to include the following: How specific and complex the actual budget document needs to be depends on how large the budget is, how many funders you have and what their requirements are, how many different programs or activities you're using the money for, etc. It is important for organizations to create accurate and up-to-date annual budgets in order to maintain control over their finances, and to show funders exactly how their money is being used.
It can be daunting to start the process of creating a budget, especially if you're not familiar with some of the common accounting and budget terminology you will encounter, so we have provided a glossary of terms covered here, located toward the bottom of the page under the In Summary section of the page. What are the elements of an annual budget? Putting it all together: Creating and working with a budget documentĭownload the Program Based Budget Template mentioned in this video here.Planning and gathering information to create a budget.Why should you prepare an annual budget?.What are the elements of an annual budget?.
#STEP BY STEP BUDGET PLANNING HOW TO#
Learn how to create accurate, up-to-date budgets in order to maintain control over finances and show funders exactly how your money is being used.
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