Creating a budget

All sports clubs should have a budget. Your budget will underpin all of your club's activities and plans, in the short and long term.

Your club's budget (also known as a financial plan / forecast) is a tool to help your club manage your money and plan for a healthy future. It is best practice to have both a:

• Short term budget - looking at your income and costs for the next year. This will keep you focussed on your everyday finances. You may find it useful to break this down into a quarterly or monthly budget to help you keep track throughout the year.
• Long term budget - looking at your income and costs over a longer period, say the next 3 – 5 years. This will help you plan for the future, and in particular any one off projects you want to undertake (e.g. funding for facilities or equipment).

Developing a budget for your sports club doesn’t have to be daunting. The areas below will keep you on track.

Keep it simple and realistic

Your club's budget doesn’t have to complex. In fact, the most important thing is that it is appropriate for your club and you use it regularly. One way to do this is to compare your actual income and costs to what you budgeted or last year's figures. The budgeting templates and examples located at the bottom of this page will help get you started, and our Managing Money page will give you some useful hints, tips and support. An unrealistic budget can demotivate people and is less likely to be actively used in managing your club's finances. Overestimating your club income and underestimating costs can quickly get your club into financial trouble, so make sure your budget is realistic. If you quickly beat your budget that's great, you can always revise it.

Make sure it links to your club development plan

Your budget should support the objectives in your Club Development Plan. These documents should work together, for example you should assess your longer term objectives for the club against your longer term budget. If your projected funds don’t match your ambitions then you may need to revise your objectives or seek ways to boost your budget. Together these documents will help shape your sports club and its financial future.

Get the right people involved

The responsibility of setting and monitoring a club's budget usually falls to the Club Treasurer. It is important however that all of the committee have an understanding of the budget to ensure transparency over the club’s finances. It's worth thinking about how you will involve and update the wider club.

Managing Costs

A key part of staying within your club's budget is to manage your costs or outgoings. Our Managing Costs page explores this in more detail. One cost you may need to consider is tax. To find out more, visit our Tax and Sports Clubs page. For more information on this topic, work though our Budgeting or Get Your Cash Flowing online modules. Alternatively, see if an Understanding your Club Finances workshop is taking place near you.