___You know the elements of an annual budget
___You know why you should prepare an annual budget
___You are prepared for the amount of time and effort spent on your budget to bear some relation to the size of your budget
___You have determined what you will need to spend money on in the next year, using these six steps to estimate your expenses:
- Develop ways of estimating expenses
- List yearly expense totals for absolute necessities
- List estimated expenses for things needed to conduct the activities of the organization
- List estimated expenses for miscellaneous costs
- List estimated expenses for items you aren't sure you can afford, but would like to obtain if possible
- Add up all of your expense items
___You understand how to estimate your organization's income, following these nine steps:
- List all actual figures or estimates of amounts you can expect from your known funding sources
- Estimate the amount you'll raise in the next fiscal year from fundraising
- Estimate the amount you'll take in for fees or services you provide
- Estimate the amount you will receive from yearly membership dues or fees
- Estimate the amount you will receive from items you may sell, such as pins, T-shirts, books, blood pressure cuffs, etc.
- Estimate the income from any spaces you sublet or rent to others
- Estimate the income you will receive from any investments, endowment income, annuities, or interest income (e.g., from a certificate of deposit, or from a Money Market or checking account)
- List and estimate the amounts from any other sources that are expected to bring in some income
- Add up all the income items you have listed to determine your total projected income for the fiscal year
___The five steps of analyzing and adjusting your budget have been followed:
- Laying out your figures in a useful format
- Comparing total expenses to your total income
- Knowing what to do if your budget is balanced
- Knowing what to do if you have a surplus
- Knowing what to do if you have a deficit
___If necessary, you have ideas on how to trim your budget
___You understand how to create a budget document
___You know how to work with your budget, including when and how to review and/or revise it