Budget Plan

Organisation / department / project: [Name] Budget owner: [Name / role] Period: [e.g., Financial year 2026, Jan-Dec] Currency: [USD] Prepared: [Date] Last reviewed: [Date]

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1. Assumptions

State the handful of numbers everything else depends on, so a reader can sanity-check the whole budget at a glance.

• Revenue basis: [e.g., last year's actuals plus 8 percent, or pipeline weighted by likelihood]
• Headcount: [e.g., 6 people at start, growing to 8 by Q3]
• Major cost drivers: [What variable costs scale with — units sold, transactions, active users]
• Contingency / buffer: [e.g., 5 percent added to discretionary spend]
• Known one-offs: [e.g., office move in Q2, annual conference in Q4]

2. Revenue plan

List each stream and the assumption behind it. Spread across the period (months or quarters).

Revenue stream	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Year total
[Stream 1 — e.g., product sales]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
[Stream 2 — e.g., service fees]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
[Stream 3 — e.g., subscriptions]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
Total revenue	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]

3. Expense plan by category

Group every line under a category and mark whether it is fixed (F) or variable (V).

Category	Line item	Type	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Year total
People	[Salaries, benefits, payroll taxes]	F	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
People	[Contractors / hourly]	V	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
Facilities	[Rent, utilities, insurance]	F	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
Software	[Subscriptions, licences, tools]	F	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
Marketing	[Campaigns, events, content]	V	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
Cost of delivery	[Materials, shipping, processing fees]	V	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
G&A	[Legal, accounting, bank fees, misc]	F	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
Contingency	[Buffer for surprises]	-	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]
Total expenses			[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[$]

4. Bottom line

Metric	Year total
Total revenue	[$]
Total expenses	[$]
Budgeted surplus / (deficit)	[$]

5. Variance tracking (update monthly or quarterly)

Fill the actuals in as the period progresses. For revenue, above budget is favourable; for costs, below budget is favourable.

Line	Budget	Actual	Variance ($)	Variance (%)	Notes / cause
Total revenue	[$]	[$]	[$]	[%]	[Why]
[Largest cost category]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[%]	[Why]
[Second cost category]	[$]	[$]	[$]	[%]	[Why]
Surplus / (deficit)	[$]	[$]	[$]	[%]	[Why]

6. Notes

[Record which lines are firm vs. tentative, what you would cut first if revenue falls short, any open assumptions to confirm, and the date you last revised this budget. Re-check it at least monthly.]