April 16, 2019
Budget Development for 2020
Local units are beginning the process of budget development for the 2020 budgets. The local unit budget is a tool. It allows for the hiring and retention of excellent agents and staff and the implementation of impactful programs that serve the needs of the public. We can react to the budgets we receive, or we can work to grow our budgets and positively impact our people, our programs and our public. How do we obtain budgets that meet our needs and grow our capacity? There are many ways including advocacy to decision-makers, creating efficiencies through improved management, and becoming entrepreneurial with cost recovery, gifts and grants. All are necessary and all can significantly affect our staff and programs. None of these happen by themselves. They require proactive effort by boards, agents and staff. Many resources are available that can provide budget development and management support on the Employee Resources, https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/employee_resources/county_district_financial_resources/, and Board Leadership, https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/boardleadership/duties/budget/index.html, websites.
The first step of the budget development process is to complete the 2018 Financial Checksheet, which is part of the Budget Development and Management Excel Worksheets that can be downloaded from the Forms page of the Employee Resources website. County and District versions are available. Most units have completed the financial checksheet and Regional Directors have reconciled them to check for accuracy. The financial checksheet not only serves the purpose of verifying the financial statement of the local unit, but gathering the information for the spreadsheet prompts thoughts about the upcoming budget development cycle, and allows for analyzing the current financial situation and any issues that need to be considered. We appreciate all the units that are generating additional revenue through entrepreneurial efforts and are breaking out the sub-category receipts and expenditures of the non-appropriated funds section of the checksheet. The non-appropriated fund information will be helpful to local boards and agents as we learn from the efforts of each other.
I have noticed on several local unit spreadsheets that the Budget Worksheet tab spreadsheet has not yet been completed. Filling out this spreadsheet allows for the analysis of the past two years of actual receipts and expenditures, as well as the most recent and the current budget. In fact, the current year (2019) budget column must be filled out in order to utilize the Monthly Overview tab spreadsheet. The format and information of the monthly overview of receipts and expenses is helpful to the local unit director in managing the financial operations, but can also be very helpful to the Extension board at monthly board meetings to quickly review the current status of receipts and expenditures in relation to the percent of year that has passed to date. The Budget Worksheet is where the proposed 2020 budget figures are entered. Local county units can then just print out the traditional or alternative budget tabs and they are ready for signatures so they can be submitted to county government. Districts can use their preparation work on the budget worksheet to quickly complete the State of Kansas district budget forms when they become available later in the spring.
Another sheet in the workbook that is underutilized by local unit directors is the Equipment Replacement tab spreadsheet. I recommend looking into the future five, or even ten years with equipment and vehicle replacement needs. The spreadsheet can be utilized to predict cash flow from reserve funds and can inform how much money needs to be set aside each year to make sure dollars are available when needed for equipment replacement.
For more information on utilizing the Budget Development and Management Worksheets, contact the Extension Field Operations office.