Charity budgets go wrong when they are copied from last year's spend, when restricted grants are treated as free money, or when reserves are left out. This template builds the year in order: income targets, programme costs by quarter, named budget holders, fund movements, reserves and a variance table that explains every material change.

The sample is a fictional £3.3M budget for Zephyrine Holdings, a charity running youth clubs, family support and community kitchens. Income grows 6.5%, costs 5.4%, and reserves reach 4.0 months of spending. Replace the income lines, cost areas, holders and fund movements with your own, then rephase by quarter.