I Submitted a December Budget Revision, Now What?

by Austin Taylor, MBA, Senior Associate

Posted on January 8, 2026

With the deadline for December budget revisions in the rear-view mirror for applicable Arizona school districts, there can sometimes be a bit of downtime and uncertainty around this time of year about how to treat district budgeting. However, there are a few things we can do to best prepare for the upcoming final revision.

Update Financial Systems

The most effective way to track expenditures against new budget revision is to ensure budgets are updated in the financial system as soon as possible. This allows us to review year-to-date expenditures and encumbrances with the most accurate data possible. The more detailed financial system budgets are, the more useful they can be for evaluating a district’s financial situation.

Once budget systems are updated, you can re-evaluate your district’s financial needs and make adjustments based on year-to-date activity. Assessing budget needs should be a constant management activity, not just evaluated at the beginning and end of each year. One way to evaluate the current financial state of your district is to review not just the current year expenditures, but to assess all encumbered amounts as well. This requires districts to ensure that all assumed or projected expenditures are recorded in their systems. Evaluating trends from prior year spending can help your district understand if encumbrances for the rest of the year are reasonable. For example, if a purchase order for $100k is processed every year for electricity, but through December of the current year only spent $15k has been spent, the district should evaluate if utilities are expected to vastly increase on a per-month basis to substantiate the entire purchase order amount. If that is not the case, then you have the opportunity to reassess and re-allocate some budget capacity to another area that has a greater need, or less certainty.

Re-evaluate Estimates

A budget revision is also a great time to re-evaluate beginning of the year estimates. For many districts, the critical 100^th day of the school year is right around the corner, at which time you will have a better understanding of final attendance numbers and revenues. This is a great time to review year-to-date spending in all budgeted areas and compare against estimates to analyze if allocation updates are needed. While it is generally easier to deal with an increase in revenue than a decrease, identifying the cause of the change is always important. For Arizona school districts specifically, an increase or decrease in ADM from beginning-of-year estimates can sometimes indicate a need for a re-evaluation of staffing or maintenance costs associated with those increases.

Although May still seems so far away, it is never too early to begin evaluating and updating budgeting processes.  Preparing throughout the year is the best way to prevent any surprises at end-of-year reporting!