Top tips for year-end: budget management

1. Budget management is important so you can keep track of what you have available, and what you’re likely to spend. To manage your budget effectively, consider the total amount available, your planned spending, the flexibility within your budget, and any risks of overspending.

2. Remember that some costs can be moved to a different budget. For example, staff training costs can be covered under office costs or the staffing budget.

3. The budget v expenditure and business costs breakdown reports can show you how much you’ve spent against each budget. Remember that these do not show real time expenditure.

4. The business costs breakdown report specifically shows you all items marked against the selected budget, which includes claims, payment card lines, direct payments, payroll costs and credit notes.

5. Goods must be allocated to the year they are received. For example, a purchase on 31 March 2025 is assumed to be delivered the next day and should be recorded in 2025-2026. You must include these types of transactions in your year-end form, as you cannot use this year’s budget to pay for next year’s goods.

Bonus tip: Book your place on a live, interactive year-end webinar and read the full guidance on our website.