Chapter & Field Financial Planning and Fiscal Year Budgeting

Mat Tse

Feb 17, 2026

Budgeting Templates (Choose Only One – Please see the Budgeting Guidance Document linked above to determine what template is best for your chapter’s reporting needs)

As part of the Chapter Operating Plan, chapters are to have a financial plan to ensure the chapter has the financial resources to fund its operating plan objectives as well as remaining financially viable for years to come. Each year, SCORE chapters are to submit financial plans each year to their District Director for review before submitting to HQ for upload into the Sage Intacct Accounting system as a fiscal year “budget”. Deadlines are within the Budgeting Guidance Document.

Chapters may use any tool they prefer for compiling and reviewing their budgets with their District Director; however, budgets must be submitted to HQ using one of the templates created specifically for this purpose in its Excel file format to facilitate the upload into Sage Intacct. Please follow the instructions within the template. The links to the template files are above.

For FY26, your chapter may create either a quarterly or a monthly budget depending on your chapter's reporting needs. A quarterly budget is essentially an annual budget divided by four with a few adjustments to arrive at each quarter’s budget; please see the Budgeting Guidance Document linked above for more information.

SCORE is on a fiscal year with this budgeted period ending September 30, 2026; Quarter 1 being Oct-Dec '24, Quarter 2 Jan-Mar '25, Quarter 3 Apr-Jun '25, and Quarter 4 Jul-Sep '25.

Districts and Regions also submit fiscal year spending plans in a more simplified quarterly format capturing expenses in one of four categories: Clerical/Admin, Other Contracted Services, Travel/Meetings, and Supplies.

Download Spending Plan Template for Districts & Regions

Financial Data for COTY Nominee Chapters: Interested in seeing how other chapters spend their funds? Here are examples of five top performing chapters’ historical data:

Chapter 1: Large chapter with one special event, no rent expense, with clerical

Chapter 2: Medium market chapter with extensive fundraising, with rent and clerical expense

Chapter 3: Small market chapter with equal local grants and National Allocation, low costs

Chapter 4: Very small, effective chapter with very low costs, no rent

Chapter 5: Large market chapter that went virtual, significant local grants to support clerical costs