Budgeting
We have included a range of practical tools and examples to help record, plan and manage your finances. All the materials are free to download for your organisation’s own use.
Budget and cash flow tools – Excel format
An Excel spreadsheet giving a layout for your financial plans. The headings can be altered/extended to suit your organisation’s needs. Download here
A simple tool to assess if your organisation has enough income to cover planned expenditure. Download here
Salary cost budget template (hourly rate) – Excel format
An Excel document to help calculate salary costs. The job titles can be amended to suit your organisation’s needs. Download here
Salary cost budget template (annual pay) – Excel format
An Excel document to help calculate salary costs. This version also includes payroll costs. The job titles can be amended to suit your organisation’s needs. Download here
Salaries costing template – Excel Format
Salaries costing spreadsheet to help calculate costs. Download here
October 2024 Budget salaries costing template – Excel Format
Common Questions
A budget is a financial plan. It could be for a whole organisation, a project or a funding application.
A budget is normally shown for a full year (or specified period) and shows all the relevant income and expenditure for the period; it does not show the bank or cash movement separately. However, a cashflow forecast does show the anticipated cash in and out (or receipts and payments) and is usually splits the transactions into monthly columns. A budget is used to plan ahead for the organisation or a project, whereas the cashflow forecast is used to manage cash tightly eg. to ensure the bank account is not overdrawn.
Ensuring that all costs are included when you are calculating the price you will charge for a service. For example, the overhead costs of running a central office are not a direct cost of the project, but are something which the project income should contribute towards.
Consider:
- The increased costs incurred by earning more income (e.g. More staff time or materials)
- Remember, if you make sales exceeding £85,000 in a 12 month rolling period, (2022-23 threshold), you must register for VAT
- Think about whether you need to pay Corporation Tax on your profits:
If your profits are applied to charitable objects, you may be eligible for corporation
tax relief
If your profit-generating activities are not the primary purpose of your charity, there are limits on how much you can generate, tax free
- Consider the costs of marketing yourselves