Budget Planner — Mothusi

See it in action

Annual budget in one conversation

Mothusi AI

Build our 2026 operational budget. We're planning 30% growth and hiring 3 people in Rustenburg.

Pulling your 2025 actuals as the baseline. Here's what I'm working from:

R840k

2025 Revenue

R650k

2025 Costs

22.6%

Net Margin

Current Staff

Revenue model

Done

Payroll calculations

70%

Scenario modelling

40%

Budget modelling

Here are your three scenarios. The hires reduce margin in Year 1 but payback hits by Q3:

R1.09M

Base Revenue

R920k

Total Costs

R168k

Net Profit

15.4%

Margin

Conservative (18% growth)

R991k rev

Base (30% growth)

R1.09M rev

Aggressive (39% growth)

R1.17M rev

Margin dip in Year 1: 22.6% → 15.4% due to 3 new hires. Recovers to 19.2% in Year 2 as revenue catches up. Conservative scenario still profitable at R68k net.

3 scenarios modelled

What if we hire 2 people in January and the 3rd in June? That would ease the cash flow.

Smart move. Staggered hiring saves R126k in the first half:

R126k

H1 Savings

17.8%

New Margin

R194k ↑

Net Profit

6.1mo

Runway

Cash flow improves significantly. Jan–May payroll: R420k (2 staff). Jun–Dec payroll: R588k (3 staff). You avoid the Q1 cash crunch entirely and maintain 6+ months runway throughout.

Model recalculated

Perfect. Go with the staggered plan. Generate the Excel and board summary.

Budget finalised with staggered hiring. Excel workbook has 5 tabs: summary dashboard, monthly breakdown, payroll phasing, variance tracker, and scenario comparison.

2026 Operational Budget5 tabs · Excel workbook

Monthly BreakdownPayroll PhasingVariance Tracker3 Scenarios

Board Summary: 2026 Budget4 pages · PDF

Executive OverviewHiring PlanCash Flow Chart

Budget & board pack ready

Capabilities

Everything your CFO would build — in minutes

Mothusi builds budgets with the rigour of a financial controller and the speed of an AI — anchored to your actual performance, ready for board presentation.

Actuals-Based Baseline

Your budget starts from your real 2025 performance — not generic assumptions. Every cost line is calibrated to your actual expenditure pattern, making the plan immediately defensible.

Scenario Modelling

Conservative, base, and aggressive growth scenarios automatically modelled — and you can ask Mothusi to explore any specific scenario ("What if we lose our largest client?") conversationally.

Headcount Planning

Add or remove team members in conversation and Mothusi recalculates payroll costs, benefits, employment tax, and the profit impact — with month-by-month phasing if you're hiring in stages.

Excel & PDF Export

Full Excel workbook with monthly breakdown, variance tracker, payroll tab, and scenario comparison — plus a clean board-ready PDF summary with charts and commentary.

FAQ

Common questions

Does the budget link to my actual financials?

Yes. Mothusi reads your actual revenue, cost lines, payroll, and overheads from your financial records to build the budget baseline. Your 2026 budget is anchored to your real 2025 performance, making it credible for funders and accurate for management decision-making — not a wishful estimate.

Can I model different growth scenarios?

Yes. Mothusi automatically generates three scenarios: conservative (60% of target growth), base (planned growth), and aggressive (130% of target). You can ask it to model any specific scenario conversationally — 'What if we hire 3 people in March?' or 'What if revenue drops 20% in Q1?' — and it recalculates the full model instantly.

Does it export to Excel?

Yes. Mothusi exports a full Excel workbook with a summary dashboard, monthly breakdown by cost category, payroll tab with all headcount costs, a variance tracker for month-by-month actuals tracking, and the three scenario comparison model — all pre-formatted and ready to share with your board or external accountant.

AI-powered budgets that plan themselves