Annual Operating Budget Approval Template (Venture-Backed Board)
Template — not legal advice. Some investor rights agreements give investors or investor directors a budget approval or information right; many do not. Check your charter, investor rights agreement, or side letters before deciding who must approve.
Fill this in
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Company / fiscal year | |
| Budget version pinned in the pack (date) | |
| Revenue / burn / ending cash (plan) | |
| Months of runway at plan | |
| Headcount plan (start → end of year) | |
| Material changes from last year's plan | |
| Investor approval or information right? (cite the agreement section, or "none") | |
| Variance threshold that returns to the board | |
| Vote: date and outcome |
Resolution (fill brackets)
RESOLVED, that the Board approves the [FY] operating plan and budget presented by management in the materials dated [DATE], including planned operating expenses of $[AMOUNT] and headcount of [NUMBER].
RESOLVED FURTHER, that management will report actuals against this budget at each regular board meeting and return to the Board before [exceeding the approved operating expense by more than [__]% / a material change in hiring plan].
Checklist
- Budget, assumptions, and runway in the pack at least the board's lead time before the meeting.
- Downside case and the cash trigger that would change the plan.
- Any investor approval or information right noted with its source document.
- Outcome monitor set: actuals vs plan at each meeting, with a due date.
- Variance threshold recorded so "return to the board" is not a judgment call.
See it in Prepared Board
On Northlight Robotics, the Q1 Board — NL-7 launch budget is scheduled with a draft pack (launch budget and headcount for the Portsmouth line). Sign in as a sample board (see /sample-decision) (password on /facts) or open /pack/demo-pack-northlight-q4 for the live Q4 pack. Outcome monitors on a decision hold the target, metric, status, due date, and last report; Prepared does not judge whether a target was met.
Related: Venture-backed board governance · Closing with evidence.
Product claims stay within /facts and /agent-facts.json.