Feeling overwhelmed by project expenses spiralling out of control? You're not alone. As an Executive Assistant, juggling multiple projects and keeping finances on track can be a daunting task, but it´s not as scary as it might first appear. Whether you´re running the entire corporate budget, or simply keeping track of finances for a one-off event, the fundamentals of running a budget successfully are the same. The key is to start from the bottom up, become a mind reader, be able to see into the future, and generally hoard every document, receipt and invoice like you´re Scrooge. So, easy enough.
On a serious note though, it is crucial that you keep track of the details if you want to keep to budget. I´m sure we´ve all seen enough home improvement shows to know that when you haven´t planned for contingencies, you end up without a roof. Let's try to avoid that.
The Executive Assistants Guide to Building Your Budget Brick by Brick:
Imagine your budget as a strong foundation for your project's financial stability. Here's how to build it from scratch:
1. Define the Project:
This is your roadmap, outlining the project's objectives, deliverables, and timelines. Clearly defined scope ensures your budget covers all necessary expenses and avoids unnecessary spending. Get specific! You cannot run a budget on generalisations. I´ve worked on projects where I was told that they did the budget at the end of the event and every single time, they wondered why they didn´t make a profit. Don´t do this, it is the height of stupidity.
Pro Tip: Hold kick-off meetings with stakeholders to ensure everyone is on the same page about the project scope and its financial implications. Get it in writing, and get it signed off.
2. Identify Expense Categories:
Categorize your project costs into:
Fixed Costs: Remain constant throughout the project (rent, software subscriptions, office supplies).
Variable Costs: Fluctuate with project activity (travel, printing, overtime pay).
One-off Costs: Occur only once during the project (equipment purchases, training, event venues).
Examples:
Fixed Costs: Rent, internet, software subscriptions, phone bills, accounting fees.
Variable Costs: Travel expenses, meals, printing costs, postage, marketing materials, meeting refreshments, project management software subscriptions.
One-off Costs: Software licenses, hardware purchases, consultant fees, training, conference registration, venue rental.
3. Estimate with Precision:
Don't guesstimate! Here are methods for each category:
Fixed Costs: Gather existing invoices, contracts, or quotes. Research average market rates.
Variable Costs: Analyze historical data from similar projects or estimate based on expected activity levels. Research travel costs and per-diem rates.
One-off Costs: Get quotes from vendors, research online marketplaces, factor in taxes and shipping.
Pro Tip: Make sure to include everything within the budget that is being used for it to get the most accurate representation of cost. Include staff costs! If they are working on this project, then their salary (or part of it- pro rata if you need to) should form a part of the expenses to get the clearest view of the ACTUAL cost. I experienced a company who ran various events per year and couldn´t figure out why they weren´t making money. It transpired that they hadn´t allocated the cost of the event manager to the events budget. If you have staff dedicating their time and company resources to this project, include them in the actual cost!
4. Allocate Wisely:
Prioritize essential expenses: Ensure critical project activities are funded first (salaries, essential software, key meeting travel).
Allocate remaining funds proportionally: Divide remaining funds among other categories based on importance and expected usage.
Allocate a buffer for contingencies: Unexpected costs are inevitable. There is absolutely no way around it. Things will happen, even if you have planned and prepared down to the last millimetre. Even something as simple as the weather can derail plans and add cost, so add a 10-15% buffer and you can provide room for unforeseen circumstances. Bonus tip, if you don´t use it, then you´ve come in under budget. No one is going to be angry at that!
5. Choose Your Tool:
Excel: Your basic workhorse. You´ve probably had experience with it already and it´s a great place to start if you don´t have specific software in place. Offers flexibility and control, but requires manual work. You can however attach files, invoices etc to it as well though so it can be very handy for keeping everything in one place. Adapt a project budget template to track income and expenses, analyze variances, and generate reports.
Budgeting Software: Streamlines tasks with expense tracking, reporting, and collaboration features. Invoices can be allocated to projects as they arise and it can take the headache out of having to manually allocate items to make sure the budget is in check. Most accounting software also have convenient apps and allow you to scan and save receipts on the move, which is hugely helpful and can help keep your budget on track. Examples: Zoho Books, Xero, TSheets. What will work for you will depend on the complexity of the project and the scope of your budget.
Pro Tip: Consider your organization's existing financial systems and whether or not you can integrate them into your preferred choice for reporting and management. Remember, if you are going to be using a specific tool, put the cost of that in the budget as well!
Excel Budget Template (Download Link Here):
These free templates from Coeffecient cover pretty much everything you might need, but it is worth keeping in mind that there are literally hundreds of free and paid for templates out there, including from within Excel and Google Sheets themselves. It´s a good idea to consider what you need your spreadsheet to do for you before committing to spending any money.
Remember: Regularly update your budget to reflect changes in the project scope or unexpected expenses. Excel will not do this for you automatically, so you MUST ensure that you´re dedicating some time each week to making sure the report reflects the reality.
Pro tip- If you are working across different currencies, you CAN include a live update of the currency exchange within your report. It may sound like overkill ( and on a smaller scale project it probably is), but for larger projects currency fluctuation can have a huge effect on costs. Take for example the USD to GBP exchange rate. On the 1st of January this year it was at 0.7856, so if you had costs coming in at £200,00 the USD rate would be $254,582. On the 5th of February this year, the exchange rate came in at 0.8. Meaning that those same goods, at the same GBP price are now costing you $250,000. Now that might not sound like much on a project of this scale, but if your budget is tight then that extra $4500USD could be better spent elsewhere. If nothing else, you need to be aware of it.
Beyond the Basics:
Track Your Progress: Regularly compare actual expenses to your budget forecast. Investigate significant variances promptly. It is absolutely key to keep on top of this, or you will end up losing control of it.
Document with Detail: Maintain clear and concise records of all expenses, including receipts, invoices, and justifications. Yes, you can still have a column for miscellaneous expenses, but they should be, far and away, the smallest part of your budget.
Report with Impact: Present your reports clearly and concisely, highlighting key metrics and trends. Focus on actionable insights and recommendations for future projects. If you´ve gone over your budget, take the time to find out why. If you don´t use the budget to figure out where you´re going wrong, then you may as well not have it. I remember full well the days when my dad use to take us out to dinner a few times a week and “put it on expenses”. Those days are, sadly, over.
Use AI to help you: There is a great AI add-in for Excel (search for it on the add-ins bar within the programme) which allows you to type in what you want a formula to do for you (i.e, if cost is higher than budget, autofill cell with Overbudget) and it will automatically give you the correct formula to put in. Super handy for when you don´t have them all memorised or even simply to see the scope of what Excel can do for you.
If you follow these steps, you should be in line to being able to handle anything from the most simple to the most complex of budgets, but if you´re a more visual learner, or simply think you might need some additional help, then I highly suggest going to either Udemy.com or Alison.com for some of their courses. The courses on Alison are generally free whereas Udemy charges you a monthly subscription fee. HOWEVER, they also offer a 14 day free trial period, so it´s worth sneaking in one or two courses before that. After that you should be able to budget like the rockstar Executive Assistant that you are!
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