How to Adjust a Budget

In OpenUp, budgets are reviewed and (when necessary) adjusted every . Typically, adjustments are made to capture how expenses are liable to change on a quarterly basis, in relation to each project. This allows us to track how and why costs and expenses might have deviated from our initial estimated projections.

Adjusting the budget for internal projects

L: In terms of the Internal projects specifically, and even the operational costs, obviously you budget based on what happened the previous year and you foresee what you think is going to take place in the coming year. But that changes a lot, throughout a year. Even through a quarter, it changes on like a monthly basis. Not necessarily big visionary things, per se, but the how- not the what, but the how, changes considerably.

In a crisis like we are currently, where there’s a massive global crisis that’s impacting the economy, some of the services that we pay for on a monthly basis that we budgeted for, the actual expense is actually far higher than what we budgeted for, because our rand is now almost 19 rand to the dollar, or 18 rand to the dollar, when we budgeted for like 15 rand. So now we’re seeing like hundreds of rand worth of difference, which is actually going to exceed our expenditure, for example, of one of our core operational costs- which is software.

Prioritizing

• internal staff salaries

• tax payments

L: when funds become limited, it’s really how we approach it from a Project Implementation standpoint. Which I think, maybe one alternate way to answer this question. We’ll often- if there’s limited funds, we’ll look at the deliverables and the requirements of that project. And we’ll think about what is the ‘lowest hanging fruit’, and the cheapest and most efficient way to deliver at least a portion of that particular, most important item on the list. And that’s kind of like how a decision is made. I don’t know if that kind of like, contributes to it a bit.

What is OpenUp’s policy on adjusting budgets?

When and how often do adjustments usually happen? What are the typical circumstances involved?

How do you prioritize where to allocate limited funds, for equally important things/tasks?