HackMD
Budget 2025 Planning Document
Planning
This document is a plan to identify the workstreams from initial data collection to final approval of the 2025 OSMF budget.
A conflict between the parallel preparation of the budget and the board elections was a problem in previous years has now been partially resolved by moving the elections from the end of the year to October. The new timing allows the Finance Committee more time and resources to prepare the budget. It also allows the incoming board members more of an opportunity to make input into the budget design than was previously possible.
The timing of the budget process described below was developed by working backwards from the final approval of the budget by the board at the last meeting of of the year on 12 December. The length and dates for each stage before that final date were then calculated. The voluntary and democratic nature of OSM means that processes run slowly, so a conservative timing on stage length was used. A conservative estimation of all stage lengths indicated that the budget preparation process should start in August and proceed through the stages to December.
Preparatory Data Collection
14 August to 11 September
Preparing a budget requires data about the funds available for that purpose. This requires estimating how much will be spent by the end of the current financial year, and how much will remain. In addition an estimate of the funds that can be raised in 2025 is required.
- Development of the Budget process
- Decision on the amount available at year end.
- Spend to date. This can be extracted from the Xero financial system.
- Estimated spend on fixed and variable costs to end of December 2024. Invoices received and not yet paid. Projects and Working Groups will provide their projected spend within the remainder of the financial year.
- Projection of the funds we can raise in 2025. There are three main sources.
- Corporate Memberships
- Memberships
- Donations
- Funds carried forward from FY 2024
- Final decision on gross available funds to budget for in financial year 2025.
- Finalise the split between fixed costs (overheads, salaries, committed contracts) which we have little control over and the discretionary amount which is available for allocation to projects and working groups.
- Over-run. Typically requests exceed available funds. The shortfall is retained as an over-run amount. The over-run can be fully or partially funded later in the year if fundraising exceeds expected amounts or if spending is less than planned.
- Decide on a maximum over-run percentage for the unfunded projects.
- We need a clear policy on managing over-run allocations.
- Prepare a briefing document with details of the available discretionary funds as determined above.
- Prepare a funding request template for use by Working Groups, Committees and Boards.
- Brief the Board liasion people for each Working Group to engage directly with each WG to estimate their spending in FY2024 and FY2025.
Stakeholder consultation
11 September to 25 September
OSMF is a democratic organisation. We need full transparency for the budget development process and we need to ask for inputs from all the involved groups. Obtaining inputs from the Boards, Working Groups and Community will run concurrently.
The Board liaison for each WG will support the process in WGs. The Treasurer will manage the process for the OSMF board, Corporate and LG Advisory board and committees. Board members supporting this process will be fully briefed. A briefing document must be prepared.
The Communications WG will be asked to prepare community media explaining the process to the broader community.
Inputs from stakeholders will include estimates of funds to be spent in the remainder of FY2024 and estimates of spend in FY2025.
Preparation of contracts
Working Groups and other spending entities will have provided details of their planned spending in FY2025. The request will have been motivated with clear descriptions of the required goods or services and the spending rate expected during the FY2025. While no guarantees are provided, the requests that were supported as candidates for funding can now be further developed, contract documents can be prepared and suitable suppliers identified.
Drafting the Budget
25 September - 13 November
The Budget will be rough drafted from the information gathered in the previous consultation phase.
The draft will be circulated in October and November. It is expected that the rough draft will generate more comment and involvement than the earlier information gathering processes so time allocated for the process is relatively lengthy.
- Prepare the rough draft. (25 September - 09 October)
- Collate all inputs and make clarifying queries
- Prepare a preliminary version of the budget. This will likely exceed available funds.
- Identify areas for cutting and consult about the cuts with funds requesting bodies.
- Finalise rough draft budget.
- Review of rough draft (09 October to 30 October)
- Rough draft will be made available for review by our involved groups. Review by the Board, Working Groups and Community will run concurrently. The review will take 3 weeks.
- Gather all inputs from the review process.
- Negotiate allocations, cuts and over-runs.
- Refining the Draft Budget (30 October - 13 November)
- The Draft budget will be re-written to incorporate inputs from the review and negotiation process.
- The Draft budget will be placed on the public Board agenda on 14 November for a resolution to proceed to a final budget.
- Draft budget will be discussed at the public Board meeting on 21 November. The Board will resolve to provisionally approve or to revise the draft.
Authority to enter into contracts
The provisional approval of the draft budget on 21 November will be authority for WGs and other funded entities to commence procurement of goods and services for delivery in FY2025. Contracts not exceeding the relevant draft budget allocation may be signed and orders placed, but no invoices for FY2025 will be paid before 1 January 2025. This measure will reduce the delay in spending at the beginning of the Financial Year.
Approving the Budget
The budget will be approved in December.
- Prepare final version of the budget. (22 November - 05 December)
- Prepare Wiki version of the Budget in parallel. (22 November - 12 December). The Wiki version is published once the budget is approved to provide a permanent and unambiguous public version of the budget as it was approved by the Board. This corrects a gap in previous practice.
- Post final budget to public Board agenda. (05 December - 12 December)
- The Board will approve the Final budget on 12 December.
- Publish Wiki version of the Budget. 12 December
Implementing the Budget
- The Budget will be implemented from 1 January.
- Invoices for FY2025 will be paid from 1 January 2025.
Closing the Books
Work done up to 31 December will be paid from the FY2024 budget.
Work done after 1 January will be paid from the FY2025 budget.
There is no roll-over of funds from year to year.
Any remaining funds in the allocations for the FY2024 budget are reclaimed on 31 December 2024 except that the Treasurer will accept invoices relating to delivery in FY2024 until Friday 31 January.
The Books will close on 31 January.
Annual Report
The annual financial report for FY 2024 will be prepared in January, February and March 2025. The document will be posted to the board agenda and made available for public inspection on 20 March 2025. It will be presented to the public Board meeting on 27 March 2025 with a request for formal approval.
Budget review
The FY2025 budget will be reviewed in June 2025, for approval by the Board at the June public meeting. The review will identify changes in the projected fundraising and spending and may shift funds between funded entities and authorise further cuts or increased allocations.
Calendar
| Start | End | Phase |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Aug 2024 | 11 Sep 2024 | Preparatory Data Collection |
| 11 Sep 2024 | 25 Sep 2024 | Stakeholder consultation |
| 25 Sep 2024 | 21 Nov 2024 | Drafting the Budget |
| 25 Sep 2024 | 09 Oct 2024 | Rough Draft |
| 09 Oct 2024 | 30 Oct 2024 | Circulation and Review |
| 30 Oct 2024 | 14 Nov 2024 | Rewrite as required |
| 14 Nov 2024 | 21 Nov 2024 | Approving the Draft Budget |
| 21 Nov 2024 | 19 Dec 2024 | Budget Final Approval |
| 21 Nov 2024 | 05 Dec 2024 | Adjusting and Writing |
| 05 Dec 2024 | 12 Dec 2024 | Final Budget on public Agenda |
| 12 Dec 2024 | 12 Dec 2024 | Board approval of the budget |
| 01 Jan 2025 | 20 March 2025 | Prepare the Annual Report 2024 |
| June 2025 | June 2025 | Review of allocations |
| Board meetings | Activity | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Aug 2024 | Mid-month chat | Verbal update on budget process |
| 29 Aug 2024 | Board Meeting | Monthly report - July Report on budget 2025 process |
| 12 Sep 2024 | Mid-month chat | Verbal update on budget process |
| 26 Sep 2024 | Board Meeting | Monthly report - August Report on budget 2025 process |
| 10 Oct 2024 | Mid-month chat | Verbal update on budget process |
| 19 Oct 2024 | Board Meeting | Special Election Meeting. No reports |
| 31 Oct 2024 | Board Meeting | Monthly report - September Report on budget 2025 process |
| 14 Nov 2024 | Mid-month chat | Verbal update on budget process |
| 28 Nov 2024 | Public meeting | Monthly report - October Report on budget 2025 process Approval of the Draft budget |
| 12 Dec 2024 | Board meeting | Monthly report - November Report on budget 2025 process Approval of the final budget |
| 09 Jan 2025 | Mid-month chat | Verbal update on budget matters |
| 30 Jan 2025 | Board meeting | Monthly report - December |
| 13 Feb 2025 | Mid-month chat | Verbal update on Annual Report |
| 27 Feb 2025 | Board meeting | Monthly report - January Approval of the Annual Report |
Finance Committee
| Board meetings | Activity | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Aug 2024 | Finance meeting | Agree on budget process. Prep for mid-month 15 Aug |
| 21 Aug 2024 | Finance meeting | Data collection phase |
| 28 Aug 2024 | Finance meeting | Data collection phase Prep for Board meeting 29 Aug |
| 04 Sep 2024 | Finance meeting | Data collection phase |
| 11 Sep 2024 | Finance meeting | Data collection phase Prep for mid-month 12 Sep Stakeholder consultation |
| 18 Sep 2024 | Finance meeting | Stakeholder consultation phase |
| 25 Sep 2024 | Finance meeting | Stakeholder consultation phase Prep for Board meeting 26 Sep Draft budget |
| 02 Oct 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase |
| 09 Oct 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase Prep for mid month 10 Oct |
| 16 Oct 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase |
| 23 Oct 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase |
| 30 Oct 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase Prep for Board meeting 31 Oct |
| 06 Nov 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase |
| 13 Nov 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase Prep for mid month 14 Nov |
| 20 Nov 2024 | Finance meeting | Draft budget phase Prep for Board meeting 21 Nov |
| 27 Nov 2024 | Finance meeting | Budget approval phase |
| 04 Dec 2024 | Finance meeting | Budget approval phase |
| 05 Dec 2024 | Finance meeting | Budget approval phase |
| 11 Dec 2024 | Finance meeting | Budget approval phase Prep for Board meeting 12 Dec |
| 18 Dec 2025 | Finance meeting | Prep for budget implementation |
| 25 Dec 2025 | Finance meeting | Public holiday Europe and former colonies. |
