Budgeting………………does it have to balance ?

Hopefully those of you with calendar fiscal years are at least in the beginning stages of working on your budget for next year.  It’s probably about time to start thinking about it and making a plan. 

Before you start, I wanted to let you know about a common misconception that the total revenues have to equal total expenses on the budget. This is not true. You can budget for a surplus or a deficit. “But I’m a non-profit”, you say. Well it’s not a requirement of a tax-exempt nonprofit to end up with no money at the end of the year. The requirement is that any surpluses you do finish the year with, don’t go to stockholders or owners, the surpluses stay within the organization to continue its mission. Read the rest of this entry »