Budget Procedures

These instructions have been designed to assist in the continual budget process. The following instructions have been made with the assumption that the end user has basic knowledge of GnuCash and Gnumeric or other spreadsheet software.

Check Current Information

Check to make sure current income and expense transactions are in the correct accounts and accounts are up to date as much as possible.

• Before beginning the actual budget process, make sure the books are reconciled for each month, cash box is reconciled, bills are paid, and any other steps that need to be completed to close the books each month. If these steps are not completed, then the budget process will be inconsistent and inaccurate. The actuals will be used to predict future income and expenses so make sure they are as accurate as possible so more precise projections can be made.
• This step should also include checking to see if some expenses deserve their own account. For example, if there is an account that has continuous and significant expenses that may need to be separated into a new account.
• Also keep a look out for one time expenses and income. While looking through the transactions, check to see if there is any noticeable or large transactions that are not continuously repeated. For example, a large expense to replace all the doors may be considered a one time expense. But the cost of continuously maintaining the doors would be considered a regular expense.

Expense Budget

Collect estimated expense budgets for five quarters, or 15 months, for each committee.

• This includes specific estimations for future projects.
• It is preferable that budgeted information is on a monthly basis. If estimations are not monthly then just multiply or divide to get the correct estimation on a monthly basis.
• To give committee members a better idea of where current expenses are heading, show them monthly expenses for the committee for at least the last quarter. Although, it is suggested to show them monthly data for the past year.