Worksheet: Re-open the budget against the strategy

If the budget is last year's plus inflation, the strategy has not reached the money. This sheet splits next year's budget and shows, line by line, what moved to the top three priorities. It builds the Competent step of the check:

The top priorities are visibly resourced with named people, protected budgets.

Step 1. Split next year's budget

Pool	What sits in it	$m
Must-spend	Safety, compliance, keeping the lights on
Committed	Projects already under way
Choice	Everything else
Total

Argue the choice pool from the priorities first. Business-as-usual requests come after.

Step 2. Show what moved

Priority	Named lead	People (FTE) this year	People next year	Opex this year	Opex next year	Capex this year	Capex next year	Where it came from
e.g. Grow services revenue	GM services	6	14	$1.2m	$2.9m	0	$0.8m	Two regional sales roles; old product marketing
1
2
3

The last column matters most. If nothing gave way, nothing moved.

Step 3. Protect it

Write the rule into the budget pack: a priority's budget is cut mid-year only by the chief executive, in writing, with the reason.

Priority	Protected budget ($m)	Mid-year changes	Approved by	Date

A business under 50 people: put last year's spending beside the top three priorities. Write down the money and the hours that moved to each. Where nothing moved, that is the first decision.

Done when: each top priority has a named lead and a protected budget, and the budget pack shows where the money came from.

Adapted from our own capital allocation method (Deloitte, 2015).