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Operating Expense Planning
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Operating Expenses
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A message from Cube Co-Founder & CEO Christina Ross
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As finance professionals, our job is to understand the story behind the numbers, but when we don't have the tools to quickly access them, we spend more time wrangling data than driving the business forward.

When I was a CFO, my biggest fear was finding a question from the CEO and not having the answer at my fingertips.

Even worse than that? When it took days or weeks to find the answer.

I hope this template helps you speak more fluently with your team. If you need extra firepower, check out our spreadsheet-native FP&A software: Cube. We help you analyze, plan, and collaborate with the ultimate speed and confidence — without sacrificing your spreadsheet.

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Find us here: cubesoftware.com
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All my best,
Christina @ Cube
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Why is OpEx budgeting so critical?
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Building an Operating Expense (OpEx) budget, whether it be for the company as a whole, by business unit, or by detailed department is crucial in assessing the day-to-day operations and financial health of the business.

Having a reliable OpEx budget assists the company in the following four crucial points:

1. Manage Current Expenses: Fixed overhead costs, such as office rent and staff salaries, are a starting point for an operating budget followed by more detailed project based spend such as Sales & Marketing and Travel & Entertainment.

2. Project Future Expenses: Evaluating actual, past, and current expenses can benefit the company as it grows going forward. It is important to understand what is driving expense and to have reliable data to reflect on when analyzing company performance.

3. Build Financial Reserves: A successful OpEx budget takes into account and prepares a company for unforeseen circumstances. Building off a grounded OpEx budget, management can decide what levers to pull within the organization to drive growth and expansion.

4. Increased Organizational Accountability: The company can rein in any tendencies to spend beyond its means and ensure budget owners are held accountable to their operating budget.
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Model Components (aka spreadsheet tabs)
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Workbook StructureAll tabsEach tab in this detailed OpEx budget has a non-Cube and Cube version. The Cube version is the same as the non-Cube except it notifies and guides the user how Cube will assist in making this process easier and more simple.
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Department Variances1st tabThis tab lists the variances between the "Budget" and "Working Budget" by department.
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OpEx Variances2nd tabThis tab lists the variances between the "Budget" and "Working Budget" by detailed ERP account and can be toggled by specific department.
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Visuals3rd tabThe visuals on this tab are linked to the previous OpEx variance tab which can be input into any slide deck to report out to Management on budget changes.
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Steps4th tabBudget owners can inform FP&A of the status of their new budget (i.e. open, in progress, submitted).
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OpEx Plan5th tabThis is the high level department budget template that aggregates the ERP accounts that are important to the Company's budget. The detailed budgeting tabs feed into this tab.
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Headcount6th tabUse the existing headcount roster to plan out Personnel level expense lines at a detailed salary, taxes, and benefits level which will feed into the OpEx Plan tab.
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Sales & Marketing7th tabSales & Marketing expenses are often project based. Use this tab to plan out in detail what will encompass the Sales & Marketing expense line which will feed into the OpEx Plan tab.
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T&E8th tabDiscuss the Travel & Entertainment plan with Budget Owners. Use this tab to plan trips (internal and external) in detail which will again feed into the OpEx Plan tab at a high level.
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Drivers9th tabThe Drivers tab is used to populate drop-downs throughout this workbook and also feed some budget assumptions.
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Model Legend
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Inputs ABC These cells are where you'll input/update data for new budget and forecast scenarios.
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DimensionsAccountThese cells are dimensions in the Company's Cube. This is a reminder to both FP&A and Budget Owners of what is mapped on the Cube web portal.
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CalculationsABCThese cells are formulas that produce model data, and are used in outputs. Don't modify the formulas in these cells.
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OutputsABCThese cells are linked to the inputs and sub-calculations. The formulas in these cells should remain unchanged.
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