Budget Template
Non-profit organizations have different operational activities with profit companies. Thus, it is essential to take note of the incoming and outgoing of the organization’s acquired funds to achieve the objectives as set by the organization. Recurring costs, such as inventory purchases, must be covered before indirect ones, such as office supplies, salaries of employees, and rent. The total amount should not exceed the total accumulated income of the non-profit organization. The use of budget worksheets will aid in tracking the income and the expenses of the organization, along with setting aside contingency funds for unexpected and uncontrollable circumstances. Including contracted services in the budget lets you plan and allocate funds for these essential services.
Program Income
The process of building a nonprofit operating budget is fundamentally a planning process. Once adopted, the operating budget also becomes an essential financial management tool helpful in monitoring ongoing operations and organizational activities throughout the year. With each reporting period, the organization compares actual performance against its plan.
Helps Inform Your Decisions
Use this operating budget template to ensure that your nonprofit has accounted for every single cost and expense. By doing so, you can keep an eye on your big-picture forecast with the assurance that every detail of your accounting is in order. With this comprehensive annual nonprofit operating budget template, you’ll get quarter-by-quarter and yearly insights into income and expenses. To calculate year-end budget totals, contrast income (e.g., sales, The Key Benefits of Accounting Services for Nonprofit Organizations contributions, fundraising, etc.) with expenses (e.g., office equipment, transportation, utilities, etc.). A non-profit organization that is not able to budget properly will not be able to conduct any kind of operations. To avoid that, they will need to know their income and expenses to see if they can do what they need to.
Top-down budgeting
These areas depend entirely on what kind of activity is going to be held. If your organization plans to hold a concert for a cause, you have to consider the costs for the venue, organizing committee, marshalls, equipment, printable ticket production, and many more. Your annual unrestricted surplus should be sufficient to meet debt obligations, fund depreciation, and add to operating reserves. AAFCPAs recommends a 3-5% surplus operating budget each year, and four to six months of expenses in your operating reserves. Many nonprofits seem to not only operate on shoestring budgets but are also proud of it. Some nonprofit leaders may even be reluctant to show a surplus in their books, fearing the perception that they are not putting their resources to good use.
What Should Be Included In a Nonprofit Budget
- This guide and accompanying spreadsheet template break down the process of understanding true program costs, either through budgeting or financial reports, into several stages.
- Most nonprofit budgets have columns indicating the period covered, budgeted amounts, actual spending, and the percentage difference from the previous period or year.
- Nonprofit fundraising, donor management, marketing, operations, community and project management, social media, branding, graphic design, website production.
- If your Nonprofit organization deals with medical activities with the help of in-kind donations along with monetary donations, the budget needs to be made accordingly.
- These documents will be the very basis in making the financial predictions for a certain nonprofit undertaking.
- Since budgets are so important, it is not unusual for an organization to hire special budget analysts.
List income sources and figures in monthly columns to determine month-by-month total income. Enter project expenses in the same month-by-month columns to compare total expenses to total revenue. This template provides an accurate picture of your nonprofit’s budgeted operating costs and all-around fiscal health.
