An IT budget in a small business is two kinds of line: run, the subscriptions, licenses, support and hardware refresh that keep the lights on, and grow, the projects that change something. IT budgeting is deciding the split and holding each line to its figure through the year; the operating budget is the departmental budget the IT lines sit inside, beside the T&E budget for travel and entertainment and every other department's lines. This page is about the IT lines as part of the operating budget, and the free departmental roll-up sheet on this site works the year-to-date variance and the run rate across the departments from the business's own numbers with no account.
IT budgeting starts with run lines, priced per year
Every subscription and license is a line with an annual figure, a renewal date and a holder; the run budget is their sum, and it steps up quietly as seats are added. IT budgeting starts by listing them, because the list is usually longer than anyone thought.
Grow lines, held like projects
A grow line is a project with a budget, a plan and a percentage complete, and the project budget sheet on this site works its forecast at completion: $270,000 against a $240,000 budget at 55% complete on the worked example. An IT project held as an operating line overruns without anyone seeing it.
The operating budget and the T&E budget beside it
IT is one department in the roll-up; T&E is a line in every department. The departmental roll-up sheet on this site works the variance and the run rate across three departments, and Opexvo Pro keeps every department's lines, commitments and actuals against their holders at one flat price.
Questions people ask about IT budget
How should a small business build an IT budget?
As run lines (subscriptions, licenses, support, refresh) with annual figures and renewal dates, and grow lines held as projects with a forecast at completion.
Where does the IT budget sit?
Inside the operating budget as one department, beside the T&E budget every department carries; the free roll-up sheet works the variance across them.
What is the forecast at completion on the worked example?
$270,000 against a $240,000 budget, a $30,000 overrun, from the free project budget sheet.