Prepare for emergency and one-time expenses

Billable staff wages (freelancers, outsourced work, etc.)Īfter identifying your variable expenses and estimating how much they cost each month, subtract the amount from your income.These variable expenses may be harder to predict, but you can refer to old receipts and invoices to estimate them. In addition to your fixed costs, you might anticipate monthly operating expenses that may not always be the same amount. Once you’ve tallied up your fixed expenses, you can subtract that number from the total income you calculated in step 1. The one-off expenses, or variable costs? Not so much-more on that in a minute.

These costs are easy to predict, so they’re easy to work into your budget. Whether you pay bills monthly, weekly, or annually, you can expect to spend a set amount of dollars on each expense. Fixed costs are expenses that remain consistent throughout the year. Once you’ve added all of your business’s income together, you can subtract your fixed costs. Depending on your business model, you may have several income sources, so be sure to include any and all revenue streams in this section. To find out how much money your business is bringing in, refer to your profit and loss statements. It also indicates your take-home pay and whether your business performance is growing or stagnating. Your net income determines how much you can afford to spend. Whether you’re optimizing your personal spending or building a business budget, your first step should be aggregating all of your forms of income. Let’s now take a look at the steps you need to take to create one. Now you know what a business budget is, why it’s important, and the essential components.

They give you the chance to identify and rectify problem areas quickly.īottom line: Consider a detailed budget one of your key business needs.

They demonstrate positive money management to lenders and investors.

They help business owners and decision-makers predict cash flow and identify trends.

They empower business owners to have a greater sense of control and insight when dealing with financial challenges.

They allow business owners to identify cash flow and spending problems.

They give business owners more freedom to run their organizations with confidence.

What’s more, research has suggested that business budgets offer the following benefits: “A business budget is a financial road map to success, a vision of where you want to take your business for the upcoming 12 months,” the FDIC says. This is a clear indication that business owners are not budgeting accurately or at all.

But a chilling statistic suggests that not all business owners are completely convinced.Ħ3% of small business owners contribute personal funds to their business at least once per year. The benefits of budgeting may be obvious to some.

Easy budget template printable