Australian based Managed IT support offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane
Powernet Colour a VITG Company POS

How to Create an IT Budget + Free Template

Even the most powerful technology platform that money can buy is ultimately still just that — a platform. It's a tool and how you use that tool is all that matters. When leveraged correctly, IT budgets are more than just a roadmap for investment in technology — they're an investment in the future of your organisation that guarantees these assets are properly aligned with your long-term goals.

This is why IT budgets are both so important and, unfortunately, so hard to get right. 

Technology is at the heart of running every business, it is touched by all team members in every business in one way or another. From a receptionist fielding calls, to a cleaning team clocking in for their shift, it really is at the heart of business operations. 

IT should be there to complement your business objectives and support your team. This is why we firmly believe in developing a technology strategy before making any technology investments, regardless of your company size. You want to make sure that each component of your technical make up talks to each other, and also achieves exactly what your business needs it to do. 

The high level process should look like this:

1. Review business plan 

2. Create IT strategy 

3. Generate IT budget 

Of course, there are other steps to take in between these big ones, like workforce assessment surveys and discovery workshops - we have done many and can help you with these! If you would like support creating a technology strategy, IT budget or would just like some IT leadership advice, head over to our IT Leadership page, we would love to help.

In a broad sense, you don't have to look very far to see why proper IT budgeting is so important. IT budgets do more than just allow you to set and achieve profit goals. They also allow you to cut unnecessary spending, track revenue, expenses, and even cash flow. Lack of cash flow is the reason why as many as 90% of small businesses close their doors prematurely, according to Dunn & Bradstreet.

But again, this is about more than just making sure that you have the money you need to buy into the technology that you want. Getting your IT budget in order also allows you to properly allocate revenue to other areas of your business without worrying about coming up short. It's about having a plan in place that outlines how you're going to be able to handle required purchases, like equipment and other related materials.

Proper IT budgeting helps you prioritise which investments help you achieve your overall strategy. Whether you plan to migrate to a new software, use mobile apps, or upskill your team using new tools, IT budgeting helps you prepare for the future and ensures your IT initiatives are aligned with your organisational goals. 

Having an IT budget can make it easier to secure financing from current and potential investors or even financial institutions, as it shows that you're aware of how this particular investment is going to pay dividends down the road. The technology itself also allows you to better prepare for busy seasons and slowdowns — something that can have a dramatic ripple effect across your entire year.

More importantly, outlining your IT budget for a certain period helps you identify key areas that you may be spending too much on and allocate that to more important areas instead. For example, listing all your current IT expenses may help you find out that you are still paying for support on a retired software. Having this outlined in your IT budget gives you a clearer picture of where the bulk of your IT budget needs to be reallocated.

The Annual IT Budget

This Sample Annual IT department budget template tracks your IT expenditures per month for the entire year. In this sample template, we’ve added staff training, IT related office supplies and equipment expenses, telecommunication expenses, Software and contract expenses, as well as IT personnel expenses.

You can customise it according to your business' needs and add the total cost of your expenses for better idea of how much you’re spending on IT for the entire year. Additionally, we have broken it into CAPEX and OPEX expenditure, as we know traditional CAPEX environments are making their way out, to be replaced with subscription-based models. 

Happy budgeting!

Sample IT Budget

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest technology tips & tricks.

Recent Articles

Tags

Categories

Search the Powernet blog

How to delete a whole page in Microsoft Word

How to delete a whole page in Microsoft Word

If you want to remove that stubborn blank page at the end of your report or delete a page containing […]

Read more
How to Unsend an Email in Outlook

How to Unsend an Email in Outlook

How to Unsend an Email in Outlook “Have you ever experienced that sinking feeling in your stomach after accidentally sending […]

Read more
Customise Google Chrome with Colours and Themes

Customise Google Chrome with Colours and Themes

We all spend a great deal of time in our internet browser, searching, googling, so it makes sense to not […]

Read more

We are well awarded

Reach our team

We’re always happy to help you find the right solutions to your IT and technology needs. Here are some ways to contact us.

Give us a call

Chat with our team to discover the best IT solutions for your organisation.
1300 892 692

Our locations

Melbourne CBD

Level 15 / 565 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

Eastern Melbourne

Level 2 / 74 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North VIC 3104

Geelong Region

East 4/13-35 Mackey Street, North Geelong VIC 3215

Sydney

U18 / 23-31 Bowden Street,
Alexandria NSW 2015
(02) 8214 8855

Brisbane

7/9 Archimedes Place, Murarrie QLD 4172

Send us an enquiry

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

cross