# Budget presentation template > A budget presentation asks for approval of next year's plan. It shows the result, the assumptions behind it, the income statement for both years, a bridge that explains the change, the investments and the cases that would break the plan. This template has eight slides, and the headline numbers (revenue, EBITDA and capex) appear in more than one place and must agree, so a finance reader can check the plan without asking for the model. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/templates/budget-presentation/ - Updated: 21 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/vorlagen/budgetpraesentation/ For CFOs, finance heads and managing directors presenting an annual budget to a board, shareholders, a lender or the management team. ## Slide by slide ### 1. Title: year, revenue and EBITDA A board that has to approve a budget looks first at two numbers. With both in the title, the ask is clear before the first slide. - Budget year with revenue and EBITDA - The meeting and the date of the decision - Presenter and a confidentiality note ### 2. Summary: the result in three sentences Answer first. Some board members read this slide closely and skim the rest, so it has to hold the result, how it comes about and what it takes. - EBITDA and its change against the forecast - Revenue growth and the margin - The two or three assumptions that matter and the capex total ### 3. Assumptions A budget is a set of assumptions with arithmetic on top. Showing them lets the board challenge the inputs, such as volume, price and wages, and not only the result. - Three or four drivers, each with its change in percent and its effect in euros - Where each number comes from, such as contracts or a wage agreement - Headcount in full-time equivalents, not in people ### 4. Income statement The table every finance reader checks first: both years side by side, with the change in euros and in percent. If it adds up, the rest is credible. - Revenue, the main cost lines and EBITDA - The forecast for the current year next to the budget - Change in euros and percent, and a source line ### 5. EBITDA bridge Explains the change in one picture and has to close to the budget figure. Cost increases stand next to the growth that causes them. - Start and end as totals, with steps for volume, price and each cost line - Values that add up exactly, rounded to one decimal - A takeaway with the sum of the increases and the sum of the decreases ### 6. Capex Boards approve projects, not totals. A ranked list shows what the money buys and what could be cut. - Projects ranked by size, with amounts that add up to the total - One sentence per large project on why it is needed and when it pays back - What happens if a project is postponed ### 7. Sensitivity Shows what happens if the assumptions slip. It turns the what-if questions into one table and shows how far the plan is from a covenant or a limit. - Three or four scenarios, each with its effect on EBITDA - The combined case - A status against a threshold, such as a covenant or a minimum ### 8. Decisions Ends on the asks, so the minutes can record one decision per line. - Approval of the budget with the key figures - Release of the capex and any conditions - A trigger and an action if volume or cost misses the plan ## Example deck The example is about Norvik Components, an invented company. Every figure in it is invented too. 1. Budget 2027: €68.2m revenue and €8.2m EBITDA. What Norvik Components plans for next year, what it costs and what we need to decide. Management team · Norvik Components · Board meeting, 10 December 2026 2. The 2027 budget lifts EBITDA by €0.8m to €8.2m. €8.2m EBITDA 2027, up from €7.4m. Revenue grows 10.0% to €68.2m, and costs grow almost as fast (+9.9%). EBITDA rises 10.8% and the margin edges up from 11.9% to 12.0%. The plan rests on 5.8% more volume and 4.2% higher prices, with €3.5m of capex. 3. Four assumptions carry the budget: volume, price, input costs and people: Volume: More parts sold, from two new framework contracts and the CNC line started in 2026. Adds €3.6m of revenue.; Price: Average price rise after the annual contract reviews. Adds €2.6m of revenue.; Materials and energy: Volume adds €1.4m of cost, higher steel and energy prices add €1.5m.; Headcount: 13 more FTE, from 248 to 261, and a wage rise of 3.4%: personnel costs rise 8.8%. 4. Revenue +10.0%, costs +9.9%: EBITDA rises €0.8m to €8.2m: €m, 2026 forecast, 2027 budget, Change, Change in % 5. Volume and price add €6.2m, and cost increases take back €5.4m. Volume and price add €6.2m. Materials and energy, personnel and other costs take back €5.4m. What is left is €0.8m. 6. Almost half of the €3.5m capex goes into the second CNC line. The CNC line adds capacity for growth from 2028. Heat recovery saves about €0.2m a year and pays back in four years. 7. Each risk alone keeps EBITDA above the €6.0m covenant, but all three together do not: If this happens, Effect on EBITDA, EBITDA 2027, Status vs covenant 8. Three decisions today let 2027 start on plan. Approve the 2027 budget: revenue €68.2m, EBITDA €8.2m. Release capex of €3.5m, with the second CNC line (€1.6m) ordered in January. Agree to pause 5 of the 13 new hires if first-quarter volume is more than 3% below plan ## Tips - **Close every bridge.** A bridge that is off by 0.1 raises more questions than the numbers do. Round every step to one decimal and check that the start plus the steps equals the end. If rounding breaks it, adjust the largest step. - **Compare with the forecast, not last year.** The real baseline is the forecast for the current year; last year's actual is history. If the forecast is uncertain, say how many months of actuals it contains. - **Split volume and price.** A 10% revenue increase means something different if all of it is price. Show the volume effect and the price effect separately, and say whether the volume step is gross or net of the variable costs it brings. - **Name the covenant.** If a lender or a shareholder agreement sets a floor, show where the plan stands against it in the sensitivity table. It is the number the board worries about anyway. - **Send the model separately.** Keep the deck to the story and send the model as a pre-read. The AI builds Excel workbooks with formulas: only the inputs are typed numbers and everything derived is a formula, so the budget moves when an assumption does. ## Common mistakes - The budget as a table of numbers with no assumptions - A bridge that does not close, or steps rounded in different ways - Comparing with last year's actuals when the current-year forecast is known - Hiding the downside: no sensitivity and no threshold - Asking for approval of a total without saying what the capex buys ## Brief for the AI A complete brief for the AI. Replace the [placeholders] with your facts. ```text Create an 8-slide budget presentation for [our board] on [10 December 2026]. Company: [Norvik Components, precision parts], budget year [2027], figures in [EUR million]. Slide 1: title with revenue and EBITDA [68.2 and 8.2]. Slide 2: a summary with the EBITDA change and the margin. Slide 3: four assumptions with their effect in euros [volume +5.8%, price +4.2%, materials and energy +11.7%, headcount +5.2%]. Slide 4: an income statement table, forecast next to budget, with the change in euros and percent [revenue 62.0 to 68.2, materials 24.8 to 27.7, personnel 21.7 to 23.6, other costs 8.1 to 8.7, EBITDA 7.4 to 8.2]. Slide 5: an EBITDA bridge as a waterfall chart that closes to the budget figure. Slide 6: a bar chart of capex by project [3.5 in total]. Slide 7: a sensitivity table with three scenarios, the combined case and a status against a covenant of [6.0]. Slide 8: the decisions we need. Use action titles. Check that every table and the bridge add up, and mark anything you had to assume instead of inventing figures. ``` [Open this brief in the editor](https://app.slaide.de/registrieren?prompt=Create+an+8-slide+budget+presentation+for+%5Bour+board%5D+on+%5B10+December+2026%5D.+Company%3A+%5BNorvik+Components%2C+precision+parts%5D%2C+budget+year+%5B2027%5D%2C+figures+in+%5BEUR+million%5D.+Slide+1%3A+title+with+revenue+and+EBITDA+%5B68.2+and+8.2%5D.+Slide+2%3A+a+summary+with+the+EBITDA+change+and+the+margin.+Slide+3%3A+four+assumptions+with+their+effect+in+euros+%5Bvolume+%2B5.8%25%2C+price+%2B4.2%25%2C+materials+and+energy+%2B11.7%25%2C+headcount+%2B5.2%25%5D.+Slide+4%3A+an+income+statement+table%2C+forecast+next+to+budget%2C+with+the+change+in+euros+and+percent+%5Brevenue+62.0+to+68.2%2C+materials+24.8+to+27.7%2C+personnel+21.7+to+23.6%2C+other+costs+8.1+to+8.7%2C+EBITDA+7.4+to+8.2%5D.+Slide+5%3A+an+EBITDA+bridge+as+a+waterfall+chart+that+closes+to+the+budget+figure.+Slide+6%3A+a+bar+chart+of+capex+by+project+%5B3.5+in+total%5D.+Slide+7%3A+a+sensitivity+table+with+three+scenarios%2C+the+combined+case+and+a+status+against+a+covenant+of+%5B6.0%5D.+Slide+8%3A+the+decisions+we+need.+Use+action+titles.+Check+that+every+table+and+the+bridge+add+up%2C+and+mark+anything+you+had+to+assume+instead+of+inventing+figures.&utm_source=ai-presentations.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=template%3Abudget&utm_content=markdown) ## Frequently asked questions ### What to include in a budget presentation? The result (revenue and EBITDA), the assumptions behind it, the income statement for the budget year next to the current forecast, a bridge that explains the change, the investments, a sensitivity table and the decisions you need. Eight slides cover it; the full model belongs in an appendix or a separate file. ### How do I present a budget to a board? Lead with the result and the ask, then show the assumptions, then the numbers. A board wants to know three things: what you plan, what could go wrong and what you need from it. Send the model before the meeting and use the meeting for the assumptions and the decisions. ### Can ChatGPT create a budget presentation? ChatGPT or any other AI assistant can draft the slide wording and suggest a structure. It does not know your actuals, your assumptions or your covenants, so the figures have to come from your model, and any number it produces needs a check against your books. The AI builds editable slides from your brief and can build the model itself as an Excel workbook with formulas. AI makes mistakes, so check every figure. ### Can the AI build the budget model in Excel? Yes. The AI builds Excel workbooks for budgets, forecasts and financial plans: only the inputs are typed numbers and everything derived is a formula. A presentation that uses a calculation gets its slides plus the workbook. ### Can I build this in my company's PowerPoint template? Yes. Upload your company's .pptx and the AI builds the eight budget slides, from the summary and the income statement to the EBITDA bridge and the decisions, in that file's fonts and colors. The result is an editable PowerPoint file made of ordinary text boxes, shapes and tables. ### Are the numbers in this template real? No. Norvik Components and all its figures are fictional. The arithmetic is consistent: revenue less the three cost lines gives EBITDA in both years, the bridge closes at €8.2m and the capex projects add up to €3.5m. That makes it a model for your own budget. ## Related pages - [Board presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/board-presentation/): A board presentation template with the 8 slides a quarterly board meeting needs: summary, KPIs, revenue, EBITDA bridge, initiatives, risks and decisions. - [Annual report](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/annual-report/): An 8-slide annual report presentation for shareholders and boards: summary, key figures, revenue by segment, cash flow, priorities, outlook and resolutions. - [Business plan](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/business-plan/): A business plan presentation template with 10 slides: summary, problem, customers, model, revenue, profit and loss, use of funds, milestones and the ask. - [Marketing plan](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/marketing-plan/): A marketing plan presentation template with 10 slides: goal, 5 C's, segments, funnel, budget by channel, calendar, KPIs and the decisions you need. - [Roadmap](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/roadmap/): A roadmap presentation template with 8 slides: outcomes, now-next-later, release timeline, Gantt chart, capacity, dependencies and the decisions you need. - [Steering committee](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/steering-committee/): A steering committee presentation template with 8 slides: status headline, key figures, schedule, budget bridge, workstreams, risks and the decisions you need. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. [How this site is written, checked and corrected](https://ai-presentations.com/editorial-policy/).