A fee budget is the number every other decision hangs off: what you charge, what you can afford, and what you will tell parents when you set the increase. This template gives you the structure, so the week you spend planning is spent on your assumptions - not on building formulas.
Annual School Fee Budget Template
What is inside
- Assumptions section: learner numbers, average fee, expected collection rate and planned increase, all in one place.
- Fee income: billed income, the income you realistically expect to collect, and the shortfall between them.
- Expenditure lines: salaries, facilities, utilities, learning materials, administration and a contingency line.
- Net position: surplus or deficit, plus your surplus margin - the one number to watch.
How to use it
Open the file in Excel or Google Sheets and edit the highlighted cells. The rest of the sheet calculates automatically. Work top to bottom: assumptions first, then expenditure, then look at the net position and adjust the fee or the plan until it balances.
Three tips from our side
- Budget on the collection rate you achieve, not the one you hope for. If you collect 92%, budget on 92%.
- Include a contingency line. Schools run on surprise expenses; a 2-3% reserve keeps a good year from turning into a bad one.
- Use the same assumptions all year. When reality differs, update the assumptions and keep the file as your working version, so the history stays consistent.
Once the budget is set, the fee structure itself still needs to be published and agreed with parents. The Start-of-Year Fee Setup Checklist walks through that process step by step.