Costs and pricing
Part of Budgeting a gaming channel with VAT on the right side and people costed by their real status
Gaming creators budget template: columns to copy and a four-month cash check
A gaming creators budget template for England: the columns to copy for income, costs and checks, then a four-month cash table, two shocks and a variance rule.
What to take away
- Give every entry a cash month, the month the money moves.
- Build a month-by-month table and read the lowest closing balance, not the annual total.
- Keep unpaid creator hours in the economic total, not in the cash total.
- Test two shockshalf the planned output and one device replaced at once.
- Close each month by replacing assumptions with invoices and flagging variances.
Give every entry a cash month
A cash month is the month money leaves or arrives, and it often differs from the month the work is done. A budget that totals the year can look healthy while one month runs short.
This is a planning aid, not tax filing. The figures below are invented inputs, not price evidence. A UK-qualified adviser should review any VAT, tax, worker and rights fields before you rely on them.
For income, keep four dates apart: the invoice date, the due date, the cash received and the cash month. A sponsor invoice issued in month 2 and due in month 3 can still arrive in month 4, and only the last of those dates moves your balance.
For subscriptions, capture the billing period, renewal date and cancellation notice, so a renewal that falls in a thin month is visible before it happens. Convert foreign currency using a documented planning rate and keep a sensitivity field. Do not present the conversion as a guaranteed charge.
The template: columns to copy
Use these columns in this order, one sheet per row below. Add rows as needed and keep the order for every sheet, so each month can be read the same way.
| Sheet | Columns in order |
|---|---|
| Header | Version, owner, period, channel, business structure, VAT status, fact-check date |
| Recurring and variable | Supplier, edition, currency, billing period, renewal date, users, included usage, overage basis, cancellation notice, export route, planning rate, sensitivity |
| Variable work | Driver, quantity, unit assumption, cost per unit, total cash, VAT treatment, cash month |
| Income | Source, gross value, deductions, invoice date, due date, cash received, cash month, platform or direct |
| Check | Cash total, economic total, internal time rate, hours, variance percent, variance amount, shock case, lowest cash balance |
Income rows should separate invoices, platform earnings, affiliate receipts, sales, gifts and services received. Each gets its own cash month, because each can arrive on a different date from the work it pays for.
The full header and setup fields sit in the one-page planning template.
Mark whether each amount includes VAT
Mark every amount as VAT-inclusive, VAT-exclusive, no VAT shown or advice required. A cash table that mixes the first two treatments will not reconcile with the bank statement.
GOV.UK states that the standard VAT rate is 20%. It also says you must register if your total taxable turnover is going to go over the £90,000 threshold in the next 30 days, so keep both links beside the sheet and refresh them before decisions.
Costs by type, including people, belong in the full budget guide. Here the only question is which month each amount lands in.
Build the four-month table
The example assumes a £2,000 opening balance. In month 3 a £1,200 production computer is paid for. A £2,000 sponsor invoice is issued in month 2 and due in month 3, but cash arrives in month 4. Recurring services stay at £180 a month.
| Item | Month 1 cash | Month 2 cash | Month 3 cash | Month 4 cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recurring services | -180 | -180 | -180 | -180 |
| Freelance editing | -300 | -300 | -300 | -300 |
| Assets | 0 | 0 | -1,200 | 0 |
| Connectivity | -50 | -50 | -50 | -50 |
| Sponsor receipt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 |
| Net cash | -530 | -530 | -1,730 | 1,470 |
| Opening cash | 2,000 | 1,470 | 940 | -790 |
| Closing cash | 1,470 | 940 | -790 | 680 |
Month 4 closes positive, but month 3 closes negative, so the plan is short for a month.
Read the lowest balance and choose a fix
Look for the lowest closing balance, then the entry that causes it. Here month 3 closes at -790, and the cause is a device payment landing before the sponsor cash.
- Find the month with the lowest closing balance.
- Name the entry that pushes it downhere the £1,200 computer.
- Move the entry, or move the cash that funds it. Paying the device in month 4 removes the shortfall, and so does asking the sponsor to pay on invoice.
- Re-run the table and record which change you chose.
Payment terms belong in the deal itself, so check the contract areas a brand agreement should settle before you plan around a due date.
Keep unpaid hours out of the cash total
The sheet carries two totals. The cash total holds money that moves. The economic total adds creator time valued at an editable internal rate, so it shows what the work costs even when nobody is paid.
Take cash costs of £180 recurring services, £300 freelance editing, £70 assets and £50 connectivity uplift. Total cash is £600. Valuing 28 creator hours at £25 an hour adds £700 to give an economic cost of £1,300. Replace the £25 with your own rate.
Unpaid hours raise the economic total only. They do not change a cash balance, so they never explain a shortfall in the table above. Value them in the same way as in working out creator ROI.
Test two shocks
Run the plan twice more. In the first run, set production volume at half the plan. In the second, replace one critical device immediately. Variable inputs should fall with output, while annual commitments may remain.
Take the second shock on the example table. If the £1,200 computer is paid in month 1 instead of month 3, month 1 closes at 270 and month 2 closes at -260. The first negative month moves from month 3 to month 2, one month earlier than in the base case.
For each case, show the lowest cash balance and name the action that stops it going negative. Hidden items such as costs the quote forgot are the first candidates to check when a shock result looks too comfortable.
Close each month
At month end, replace assumptions with invoices and time. Flag any variance over 10 per cent or £50, whichever is lower, and investigate it.
Move unpaid income to the expected receipt month and update the forecast. Preserve the old version so optimism cannot overwrite what was originally approved.
A variance is a prompt to ask why, not proof of error. Late payment, a price change and a one-off purchase each leave a different mark in the table. The risk scenarios show how unreconciled income becomes a problem if nobody asks.
- Record a cash month for every entry.
- Mark each amount as VAT-inclusive, exclusive, no VAT shown or advice required.
- Run the half-output and device-replacement cases.
- Keep the previous version beside the update.
Common questions
Why track cash months rather than annual totals?
An annual total hides timing. The example reaches a positive balance in month 4 but is negative in month 3, and only the month-by-month view shows that.
What if my assumptions turn out wrong?
Apply the variance threshold. Move unpaid income to the expected receipt month and update the forecast. Preserve the old version so optimism cannot overwrite what was originally approved.
Do unpaid hours belong in the cash table?
No. Value them at an editable internal rate in the economic total. Cash rows hold only money that moves.
