Budget variance
Q3 programme spend closed 8.3% under budget.
"Advocacy underran by £15.1k as the Q2 partner contract slipped into Q4. Travel came in 45% below plan following the shift to remote convenings."
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budget_q3_v14_FINAL.xlsx
A
B
C
D
1
Programme
Budget
Actual
Var
2
Health
125,000
108,420
-13.2%
3
Education
94,500
97,110
+2.7%
4
Advocacy
38,000
22,900
-39.7%
5
Ops
72,000
74,200
+3.0%
6
Grants
210,000
198,650
-5.4%
7
Travel
18,000
9,830
-45.3%
8
=SUM
557,500
511,110
#REF!
→
Q3 2026 · Variance narrative
Programme spend closed 8.3% under budget, driven by delayed supplier onboarding in Advocacy and lower travel activity.
Advocacy underran by £15.1k as the Q2 partner contract slipped into Q4. Travel came in 45% below plan following the shift to remote convenings.
Recommend reforecasting Q4 Advocacy at £34k to reflect the delayed start, and rolling £8k of travel underspend into programme delivery.
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What Surplus writes
Report-ready prose, not raw numbers.
Donor report
Quarterly update — Foundation X
"Your £250k grant funded 1,420 clinician hours across three sites this quarter, exceeding the milestone target by 12%. Unrestricted funds covered a one-off compliance audit; full breakdown attached."
Board pack
Executive summary — November
"Cash runway extends to 19 months at current burn. Restricted funds coverage is healthy at 84%. Two programmes are trending materially below plan and warrant a Q4 reforecast."
The maths
If Surplus saves you 10 hours a month…
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Hours saved / month10 hrs
Blended finance rate£75 / hr
Months / year× 12
Value returned
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