Budgeting for treasurers

In other words, it is a statement of anticipated sales turnover, expenditure, profits and cash flows.

A budget is a key management tool, as many not-for-profits operate without capital or reserves, so operating losses can have a devastating impact. Your budgeting will tell you whether your income is likely to exceed your expenditure, and if so by how much.

The treasurer does not usually write the budget alone. It is prepared in consultation with the board and staff. It may be tempting to hand over the budget to your accountant, but unless they are on your management team, they may not be close enough to your organisation's goals and objectives to do a thorough job.

A common way of determining the budget is to refer to the past period as a baseline - then adjust the revenues and costs by applying a percentage increase for inflation or making alterations for expected changes in prices and volume. Budgets prepared this way are called incremental budgets.

This method has its disadvantages as it does not consider whether activities and costs are still appropriate and if a mistake is made one year, it is likely to be repeated the following year.

With zero-based budgeting, you start from scratch each year and justify spending on a cost-benefit basis. It is not usually practical to use zero-based budgeting for all your activities as it would be too time-consuming, but you should review your activities regularly to see if the costs are still relevant.

A practical approach is to use the incremental approach for fixed costs and a zero-based approach for special projects.

Do some 'what if?' scenarios. What if you need another staff member? What if a crucial board member resigns? What if you lose a grant?

Imagine the worst and the best that could happen financially, then look at how you would cope with it. It may seem odd to worry about the best case scenarios, but a sudden upsurge in demand for your services could place your organisation under financial stress.

Some budgets will be drawn up for the financial year of June to June and others will operate on a calendar year.

Here are the eight steps that Organisation XYZ took to prepare its annual June to June budget:

1. Looked at last year's income
2. Looked at the timing of last year's income
3. Asked, 'What will happen this year?'
4. Worked out this year's overall figures
5. Drew up the income side of the budget month by month
6. Followed the same steps for expenditure
7. Discussed the options
8. Presented the budget for sign-off.

The organisation reviewed past records of revenue and income (membership, sales, grants, fund-raising, consultancy, interest), looked at past records of expenditure (room hire, wages and telephone), assessed income and expenditure, predicted increases or decreases in the year ahead, studied timing, noticed when most income flowed in and when regular bills were paid, and lastly, looked at likely variations in the year ahead.

Step 3. What will happen this year?

XYZ reviewed the organisation's plans for the year and factored in any changes in the pattern of activities from the previous year. It then estimated the effect of any likely changes in income sources or expenditure demands for the coming year.

Step 4. This year's figures

This year's figures XYZ looked at the likely figures for the year ahead. The most significant factor was that XYZ will no longer receive a Federal Government grant ($20,000). Even with increased fund-raising and raising more money from community events, XYZ will still have $12,000 less money this year. XYZ's board will have to look at ways of dealing with this impact.

Step 5. Month-by-month income budget

Month-by-month income budget XYZ drew up the income side of its budget by predicting the timing of each income stream.

Step 6.

Month-by-month expenditure budget XYZ followed the same steps for its predicted expenditure, analysing previous expenditure and asking themselves if future costs are likely to remain the same.

Step 7.

Discuss options If your revenue declines or costs increase, options may be:

• Reduce programs or activities
• Reduce costs (you must be realistic)
• Run a deficit (can you do it? Is this sustainable?)
• Raise alternative funds

By having a realistic budget you will have a rational base to make decisions and to ensure you meet your obligations.

To prepare for your first budget planning session, you will need to study all your income sources and look at where your money goes.

Income sources may include:

Donations: Money from well-wishers will probably be among your top income sources. Your contact list of past donors and future prospects will become a valuable resource.

Special events: A significant proportion of many budgets comes from fund-raising. Many organisations run the same fund-raising events year-after-year, but you also need to watch for new opportunities as the success of your traditional fund-raising activities may vary from year to year.

Membership: Many not-for-profit organisations get a high proportion of their income from membership fees, so it is important to keep a close eye on when memberships fall due, so you can remind your members to renew promptly.

Grants: Many not-for-profit organisations receive grants from philanthropic bodies or from federal, state or local governments. These grants are usually in the form of a contract with agreed outcomes.

A key responsibility in managing contracts is to be aware of the milestones and the reporting and delivery conditions under the contract. Also read the fine print and be aware of the legal and financial implications if you do not meet the contract's specifications.

Be sure to factor into the project budget your own contributions - your administrative costs, the time of your volunteers, the management required from your staff.

It's human nature not to factor in all the little costs, such the time it takes to answer the phone, postage costs, and parking costs.

Remember when you are preparing a project budget for a grant, that unless you are careful your total costs may be larger than the grant request!

Bequests and investments: If your organisation has large bequests - money that needs to be invested, rather than just used in your annual budget - you will probably need to get advice on an investment strategy.

Other income which may need to be invested includes money from events, selling products or services, and sponsorship.

Expenditure sources are either fixed or variable:

• Fixed costs remain fairly constant and include items like rent, electricity, leases and wages.
• Variable costs may change from year to year and include items like publicity and advertising, and wages for special events.