Look at your budgeting worksheet. Are you responsible for both income and expense projections? Are you responsible for generating funds? If so, is revenue coming from various products or services, and can you influence the amount?
Now look at expected costs. Check out the different budget lines. Cost headings usually include personnel (staffing, wages, pensions, training, etc.); overhead (rent, office space, computers, etc.); and materials and equipment (from stationery to telephones to raw materials).
Some of these costs will be fixed—that is, costs you have no control over (e.g., permanent staff costs). Others will be variable and depend on the organization’s work output (e.g., raw materials or advertising costs). If you are unsure which figures are variable and which ones fixed, you may want to check with your accounting department. Because the state of your firm’s business can impact variable costs, you will want to adjust these costs during periods of prosperity and during economic downturns.