Planning Your Budget

Creating a budget plan is a helpful way to ensure you are spending all of your allocated funds and that you have enough to do the things you want.

What is a budget plan? • A tool for planning and tracking your organization’s funds • A guideline describing your organization’s future goals regarding fi nances within a set period of time • A detailed statement of your organization’s estimated income and expenses • A historical record of your organization’s activities during a certain period

What can a budget plan do? • Help your organization use funds effi ciently and appropriately • Provide accurate information to adjust, analyze, and evaluate programs and activities • Keep a historical reference to be used in future planning • Aide with eff ectively managing your time and resources

How do you develop a budget plan? • Begin preparations as soon as your board is set and you know your SGA budget • Prepare an outline of your organization’s annual events and other planned activities for the coming year • Review your available funds including SGA allocated as well as self-generated funds Remember to plan ahead when moving money between budget categories. A Senate bill is required to move budget and requires at least two weeks!

• Rank events and programs in order by their relative importance (i.e. Guest speakers, signature events, heritage month activities, Homecoming, etc.) • Collect price quotations on big expenditures like guest speakers, performers, and off campus venues. Remember to delegate responsibilities to e-board members. • Outline projected numbers per category in a spreadsheet. Be sure the budget is fl exible to anticipate any events that may have been overlooked. Give yourself a cushion • Share the budget with your organization executive board and advisors • Use this to help you plan your budget presentation for the next fi scal year.

How do we manage a budget? • Keep an accurate log of all transactions. Nole Central can help with this, but be sure to log all purchase requests and expenditures on an internal document. • Share the balance of each budget category at every e-board meeting • Assess the budget regularly and adjust when necessary • Meet with your advisor to discuss your budget and Nole Central at least once a month

Annual Budget Request Process • Each October, your organization will be required to submit a budget request for the next fi scal year budget and present that request in front of the Senate Budget Committee. • At least the president and treasurer should attend the presentation. • To project next year’s spending, you should keep in mind the last 2-3 years. Compile what you spent, what programs/events you held, and what the impact of those programs/events were. This will allow you to accurately advocate for your organization’s needs

Did you know? Students pay $12.86 in activity and service fees (A&S) for every credit hour in which they are enrolled.