Your data stays yours. When pricing launches, you'll get advance notice and the option to export everything.
Every school deserves a clear financial plan.
SchoolStack Budget helps school leaders understand revenue, staffing, expenses, cash flow, and long-term sustainability, whether you are starting, operating, growing, evaluating a facility, or preparing for financing.
Looking for a site too? SchoolStack Space is our complimentary tool for facility planning and market research, census data and nearby schools for any address.
BUILT BY
The Building Hope Impact Fund
MADE POSSIBLE BY
A financial planning platform built for school leaders.
SchoolStack Budget walks founders, operators, and school teams through every step and makes the math make sense.
Guided financial planning
Our platform walks you through enrollment, revenue, staffing, and expenses - step by step, in plain English. You answer questions about your school; we build a professional 5-year financial model.
Optional founder review during beta
When your model is ready, you can request a founder-led review from the SchoolStack team. We'll share what looks strong, what to tighten, and what questions a lender or board is likely to ask. Free during beta, capacity is limited, and it's entirely optional - the model is yours either way.
We'll walk you through the whole thing.
No finance degree. No accountant. No 47-tab spreadsheet you inherited from someone who left. Just clear steps and honest guidance.
Start with what you know.
How many students? What do you charge? What do you pay your teachers? You already know more than you think. We turn what you know into a professional financial model.
Analysis you can actually understand.
Budget flags where you're healthy, where you're at risk, and what to do about it. No jargon. No judgment. Just clear, practical guidance - built right into the platform.
Know the funding you're owed.
Every state funds schools differently - and private schools can tap federal dollars most never claim. Start here.
School funding by state
Charter per-pupil, ESA, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships for all 50 states and DC - with current per-student amounts and how to model them.
Find your state →Federal Title funds for private schools
Private and faith-based schools are owed a fair share of federally funded services - tutoring, teacher training, technology. Here's the step-by-step guide.
Read the guide →What you'll build, at your own pace.
Tell us about your school.
Charter, private, microschool, pod, co-op, or tutoring center. New or already operating. We adjust everything based on your school type.
Enter your revenue.
Tuition, ESA funding, charter allocations, grants, donations. We help you think through all of it, including discount tiers and collection timing.
Plan your team.
Add every role: teachers, admin, support staff, founder salary. Set FTE, benefits, and payroll. Budget shows you what percentage of your spending goes to people, so you can make sure there’s enough left for everything else.
Add your costs.
Rent, utilities, curriculum, technology, insurance, marketing. Line by line. Budget flags anything that looks off.
See the whole picture.
Revenue vs. expenses across five years. Where you break even. How much cash you have on hand. Whether your school can sustain itself. All of it, in charts and plain English.
See what your numbers are really saying.
Budget analyzes your model and gives you specific, practical recommendations. Not generic advice. Guidance based on YOUR numbers - automatically, as you build.
Export and share.
Lender Conversation Snapshot PDF, Board and Funder Summary PDF, a 23-tab Founder Planning Workbook, and a 5-Year Financial Model with live Excel math. Or generate a shareable read-only link so your lender or board can view the model online - no login required.
Budget coaches you while you build.
You're never guessing alone. Context-specific guidance appears right when you need it.
Inline explainers
Entering salaries? We'll show you that most schools spend 50–60% on staffing, right next to the input. Setting tuition? You'll see what similar schools charge. Every section has contextual guidance that helps you make confident decisions - like having a consultant sitting next to you.
Plain-English explanations
What does DSCR mean? Why do lenders care about your staffing ratio? Budget explains every metric in language you actually understand - what it means, why it matters, what's healthy vs. risky, and what to do about it.
What if things don't go perfectly?
The best financial plans aren't the optimistic ones. They're the ones that have already accounted for what could go wrong.
The What-If Scenario Planner
After you build your base model, use sliders to test what happens when assumptions change. Adjust enrollment, tuition, staffing costs, facility expenses, and more - and see the impact on your bottom line instantly.
Compare scenarios side by side
Create multiple scenarios - "Conservative," "Optimistic," "What if we lose the lease" - and compare them against your base model. We show you which metrics improve, which get worse, and give you a clear verdict. It's the analysis that answers: can my school survive the downside?
What to have handy before you start.
You don't need all of this - estimates work fine for most fields. But having these nearby will make the process faster and your model stronger.
The basics
- Your school type (charter, private, micro, pod, etc.)
- What state you're in
- How many students you expect in Year 1
- Your building capacity
Revenue & funding
- Tuition rate (or an estimate)
- Per-pupil funding amount (charter schools)
- Any grants or donations you expect
- ESA or voucher amounts (if applicable)
Your team
- Roles you plan to hire (teachers, admin, etc.)
- Salary ranges for each role
- Full-time vs. part-time vs. contract
Your space & costs
- Monthly rent or mortgage payment
- Lease terms (if you have them)
- Estimates for insurance, utilities, curriculum
- Any loans or debt you're planning
Don't have everything? No problem. You can save your progress and come back anytime.
See what you'll build
Here's a preview of a completed financial analysis for a fictional early-stage school. Your model will look just like this - tailored to your school's unique story.
Bright Horizon Academy
A new independent K-8 school in Austin, TX - tuition-based, growing from 18 to 36 students over 5 years as it builds a community of families.
Executive Summary
Bright Horizon Academy projects thoughtful growth from 18 to 36 students over five years, reaching $330K in total revenue by Year 5. Like many early-stage schools, it operates at a loss in Years 1–2 before turning a corner in Year 3 - a completely normal trajectory for a founder-led school. Tuition at $8,200/year is priced accessibly for families, supplemented by a modest scholarship fund and small grants. Staffing costs average 55% of revenue, and the school targets 2 months of operating reserves by Year 5 - a solid foundation to keep building on.
Biggest Strength
Lean, intentional cost structure with only 2 full-time staff in Year 1 keeps the budget manageable while the school finds its stride. The tuition-driven model provides predictable monthly cash flow and avoids dependence on competitive grant cycles.
Biggest Risk
Years 1–2 show a combined net shortfall of –$28K, which is an area to plan around. If enrollment grows more slowly than projected, the school may want to draw on its startup reserve or explore an additional $15–20K in bridge funding - a common step for early-stage schools.
Lender Readiness
Moderate
The model tells a credible story of a school building toward sustainability. The thinner margins in Years 1–3 mean lenders will likely want to see committed enrollment deposits and a personal guarantee or co-signer. The honesty of this plan is a strength - it's exactly what underwriters appreciate.
Key Metrics
6.8%
Below the 10% benchmark, but realistic and very common for a school at this stage. This will strengthen as enrollment grows.
1.5x
Above the 1.2x minimum lenders typically require - a great sign for your financial story.
$9,170
Modest but reflects accessible, family-friendly pricing. There's room to grow this over time.
55%
Well within the healthy 45–60% range - you're investing in your team without overextending.
Year 3
Very typical for early-stage schools - plan for 18–24 months of startup runway and you'll be in great shape.
2.0 months
Below the recommended 3-month target - an area to strengthen through fundraising or retained earnings as you grow.
Year 1 Revenue Mix
Cost Structure
- Staffing
- Facility
- Other OpEx
Ready to create your own financial model?
Get started nowYour work saves as you go, so you can finish at your own pace over a few sittings.
Built for...
One platform, every kind of school.
See how SchoolStack Budget fits the way your school actually works.
We know who you are. We built this for you.
SchoolStack Budget was shaped with - and for - school leaders at hundreds of schools. These are the people we sit with every week.
You might be a head of school finalizing next year's budget for your board. A founder three years in who has never been fully sure the math holds up. An operator weighing a second campus or a new grade. A pastor or parent who started something small that's grown into a real school. A finance lead at a private school (including Catholic and Chesterton Academy operating-model templates), charter, microschool, co-op, or tutoring center who just needs the numbers to make sense.
You may not have a CFO. You may not even have a bookkeeper. You're making decisions every week that quietly determine whether your school sustains itself, grows on purpose, or has to make hard cuts later.
Our promise is simple: meet you where you are, show you the truth in your numbers, and help you act on it. Sometimes the model surfaces something hard. That's the point - better to see it now, while you can adjust staffing, revisit a lease, or rethink a grade rollout, than after you've committed.
SchoolStack Budget is built for school leaders like you - whether or not you ever talk to a lender. We're in this with you.
More purpose-built tools for schools of all sizes.
A budget, a building, and an effective back office, from a family of tools built for school founders and leaders.
The SchoolStack Family
For early-stage founders, private schools seeking microloans, and programs that need back-office capacity.
The Building Hope Ecosystem
Building Hope has spent 25 years building and financing charter school facility projects nationwide. For schools poised to grow to 500+ students, the Real Estate and Finance teams are here to help.
You already know how to teach.
Let's make sure you know your numbers.
Start today, finish at your own pace. No credit card. No spreadsheet experience required.