A clear Year 1 budget, ready to share.
Walk through enrollment, revenue, staffing, and expenses step by step. SchoolStack Budget assembles a Year 1 income statement and current-year tab you can hand to a board, lender, or co-founder the same day.
Built for: Founders building their opening-year budget, schools refreshing their current operating year, and operators preparing a board handout for a single fiscal year.
Start My Year 1 BudgetA look at what you'll work with.
Faithful previews of the views, charts, and controls you'll use in the product.
Dashboard · Financial Snapshot · Bright Horizons Microschool
●Plain-English read on whether Year 1 worksYour Year 1 numbers surface on the dashboard the moment you finish the wizard.
Wizard · Review step · Year 1 income statement
●One-page Year 1 income statementThe Review step compiles a Year 1 income statement from every wizard input - ready to share.
How it works.
5 steps from blank page to a finished view you can share.
Tell us about your school.
Pick your school type, state, and grade levels. Budget tailors the rest of the wizard around what's relevant - charter, private, microschool, pod, or co-op.
Enter Year 1 revenue and enrollment.
Set tuition, per-pupil funding, ESA, grants, and donations - with collection-timing helpers for slow-paying funders so the cash math is honest.
Add your staff and operating costs.
Build your staffing roster role by role, then layer in rent, utilities, curriculum, insurance, and marketing. Inline benchmarks flag anything that looks high or low for your school type.
Review the Year 1 picture.
See a one-page Year 1 income statement, key metrics, and Budget's plain-English read of whether the math works.
Export and share.
Download a current-year workbook tab, a one-page Board and Funder Summary, or a shareable read-only link - no login required for the people you send it to.
Common questions.
I only need a Year 1 budget right now. Do I still have to model 5 years?
I only need a Year 1 budget right now. Do I still have to model 5 years?
No. When you start a new model you'll pick "Single-Year Budget" - the wizard focuses on Year 1, the Year 1 income statement is the core deliverable, and you can export it for your team. Whenever you're ready to think further out, click "Extend to 5-year" and the multi-year view picks up where you left off (Years 2-5 are seeded from your Year 1 ramp).
Does this account for cash timing, not just totals?
Does this account for cash timing, not just totals?
Yes. Tuition collection cadence, grant disbursement timing, and slow-paying funders all affect the monthly cash inflow Budget computes - so you can see when you're tight on cash, not just whether the year balances on paper.
Can I export just the current-year numbers?
Can I export just the current-year numbers?
Yes. The export workbook has a dedicated current-year tab that mirrors the in-app review, plus a Board and Funder Summary PDF that fits on one page.
What if I'm already operating and want to budget the next school year?
What if I'm already operating and want to budget the next school year?
Use the same flow with your actuals as a starting point. Budget will help you compare what you're projecting to what similar schools see.
Year 1 should not feel like a guess.
A few focused sittings and you have a real Year 1 income statement, a board-ready summary, and an Excel tab you can keep updating as the year unfolds.
Start My Year 1 Budget