Budgets can sound boring, but they are essential to making your chapter successful. Without the proper knowledge of your income and expenses, you could quickly run out of funds before your following important function. The following are some budgeting mistakes that you should avoid.
They are not planning for the unexpected. Even with accurate numbers and meticulous tracking, it's essential to prepare for the things that could unexpectedly pop up. Members may be late on their dues, and set you back a bit. Someone may ask for a reimbursement when you least expect it. Worst case scenario, a member can drop or never pay, and you're under budget. Your budget should account for this.
It is not saving money. Like planning for unexpected occurrences, saving money can benefit your chapter in case of an emergency. Make it a habit to add this to the expenses in your budget so you can avoid the temptation of pulling money out.
Running a chapter takes planning, and financial planning is a huge part. Creating a realistic working budget for your chapter can help you stay afloat and remain successful. With greekbill, you can create and run your customized budget with the budget managing feature. Check out the other features available on greekbill to further detail your budget, so you’ll always be on top of your chapter’s finances. Click Here on how to manage your vendors to get realistic data on your chapter's expenses.
Not having a financial accountability partner/Committee and regularly keeping up with your budget.
At the end of every month or minimally at the end of every quarter/ semester, you should be checking to see if you are within budget. We recommend meeting to connect on the budget and see if you need to adjust it. See where you over and underspent. Have the president meet with you to go over it or a committee, or ask someone from your HQ/ National Organization. You are not alone in creating the budget and spending the money.
Not pressing your members to pay. Keeping them accountable for their dues with hard deadlines and consequences such as probation, late fees, or fines.
Pro TIP: If most of your expenses come earlier in the term, it may make sense to weigh those payments to be more significant in the first payments. For example, if dues are $800, you may have $400 due the first month, then $200 the second month, and $200 the third month. Allowing overspending and not cutting in other places.
Greekbill provides a platform to easily create and maintain a budget by tracking your income and expenses.