Costs and pricing
Part of A buyer's cost-register method for web design commissions
A blank website budget sheet with a tax block and assurance reserves
Use a blank England website budget sheet that records cost behaviour, VAT basis, evidence, uncertainty, approvals, reforecasting and exit funding.
This blank template is for an England organisation preparing a website commission. It does not contain a market rate, sample budget or recommended contingency.
Keep the working sheet and its evidence together. Store the pack in one shared folder and name each version with the project, version number and date, for example site-rebuild-budget-v03-2026-02-14.xlsx, so a reviewer can match a figure to its source. A total without units or exclusions is not ready for approval.
What to take away
- Every amount in the budget must come from a dated quote, contract, invoice, payroll method or buyer-approved assumption.
- Risk and assurance reserves should list event, trigger, response, owner, evidence range and release authority, not one unexplained percentage.
- Keep formulas visible and reforecast when scope, quantity, tax treatment, platform terms or delivery evidence changes.
Project header
Complete these fields before entering money:
Project header fields to complete
- Decision and service boundary
- Eligible users and essential tasks
- Included sites, languages and environments
- Build, operation and exit periods
- Currency and conversion-date rule
- VAT reviewer and treatment date
- Cost owner and approval authority
- Reforecast date and stop threshold
Field / Buyer entry
- Decision and service boundary
- [ ]
- Eligible users and essential tasks
- [ ]
- Included sites, languages and environments
- [ ]
- Build, operation and exit periods
- [ ]
- Currency and conversion-date rule
- [ ]
- VAT reviewer and treatment date
- [ ]
- Cost owner and approval authority
- [ ]
- Reforecast date and stop threshold
- [ ]
The Cabinet Office publishes Should Cost Modelling tools and templates for public contracting authorities. This smaller worksheet borrows only the practice of exposing scope and assumptions. It is not an official model or a substitute for commercial analysis.
Cost register
Create one row for each purchasable or internally supplied unit.
Cost register columns
- Cost item
- Behaviourfixed or variable
- Timingone-off or recurring
- Quantity and unit
- Unit amount and VAT status
- Inclusion and exclusion
- Confidence and unresolved dependency
- Owner and control rule
Required column / What belongs there
- Cost item
- A specific deliverable, activity, licence or resource
- Behaviour
- Fixed or variable
- Timing
- One-off or recurring, with exact period
- Quantity and unit
- Blank until supported, such as defined deliverable or named licence
- Unit amount
- Currency, VAT-exclusive or VAT-inclusive status, source and source date
- Inclusion and exclusion
- What the amount does and does not cover
- Confidence
- Evidence quality and unresolved dependency
- Owner
- Person responsible for the input and variance
- Control
- Approval limit, alert, stop rule and next review
Use separate rows for discovery, user research, content, visual design, development, CMS, hosting, licences, integrations, accessibility work, privacy or claims advice, security, delivery management, testing, migration, launch cover, training, support, incidents, maintenance, renewal and exit. Bundled quotes should be unpacked sufficiently to show which critical task has no allowance.
Worked example row (illustrative figures, replace with your own quoted amounts)
| Cost item | Behaviour | Timing | Quantity and unit | Unit amount | Inclusion and exclusion | Confidence | Owner | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery and content review | Fixed | One-off, March 2026 | 2 workshops | £1,200 per workshop, VAT-exclusive, source and source date from your dated quote | Includes preparation, two sessions and a written summary; excludes travel and extra sessions | Quoted | Content lead | Release up to £2,400 net; stop if a third session is requested without a new quote |
Sample total for that row: 2 workshops at £1,200 = £2,400 net. This is an arithmetic illustration only; substitute the amount from your own dated quote.
Add the reviewed VAT amount and any authorised risk drawdown to reach the period cash total used in the calculation block.
Tax and invoice block
Do not type a VAT rate from memory. GOV.UK's charging VAT page says rates can change and tells VAT-registered businesses to show the tax separately. Record supplier registration evidence, place and nature of supply, net amount, applicable rate, VAT amount, gross amount and recovery decision in distinct columns. A qualified tax adviser or accountant should confirm the entry.
The UK VAT registration threshold is £90,000, set from 1 April 2024; check the current figure on GOV.UK.
When reconciling spend, GOV.UK's invoice requirements include a clear description, supply and invoice dates, amounts and VAT where applicable. Add acceptance-reference, purchase-order and dispute fields; official invoice content alone does not prove that contracted work passed.
Risk and assurance reserves
Do not use one unexplained contingency percentage. List the event, trigger, response, owner, evidence range and release authority. Possible rows include content remediation, additional integration work, accessibility fixes, a security issue, migration failure, support overlap or exit assistance. The amount can remain blank while evidence is collected.
Privacy cost depends on processing. The ICO's DPIA guidance explains the assessment route for likely high-risk processing and currently carries an update warning. Record screening, specialist review and mitigation work separately. Do not let a budget label decide whether a DPIA is legally required.
Security continues after launch. The NCSC's secure development guidance covers repositories, build pipelines, continuing tests and flaw management, while refusing a security guarantee. Give maintenance and incident work their own owner and period.
Calculations and approval
Keep formulas visible:
line net cost = approved quantity multiplied by approved net unit amount
period cash total = accepted net lines + reviewed VAT payable + authorised risk drawdown
full economic total = cash total adjusted for recoverable tax + valued internal time + displacement + remaining operation and exit
Run low and high cases only from documented ranges. Reforecast when scope, quantity, tax treatment, platform terms or delivery evidence changes.
Before you act
- Complete the project header fields before entering any money.
- Create one cost register row for each purchasable or internally supplied unit.
- Record VAT evidence and recovery decision in distinct columns.
- List risk events with trigger, response, owner and release authority.
- Keep formulas visible and run low and high cases from documented ranges.
- Hold the purchase if an essential unit is missing or work has no funded route.
Common questions
What should be recorded in the tax and invoice block?
Record supplier registration evidence, place and nature of supply, net amount, applicable rate, VAT amount, gross amount and recovery decision in distinct columns. A qualified tax adviser or accountant should confirm the entry. Add acceptance-reference, purchase-order and dispute fields because official invoice content alone does not prove that contracted work passed.
How should risk and assurance reserves be handled?
Use a separate row for each named risk rather than a single percentage, and leave the amount blank until evidence supports it. The reserves section above sets out the columns and the release authority that each row needs.
When should a purchase be put on hold?
Put the purchase on hold if an essential unit is missing, if the same cost appears twice, or if accessibility, privacy, security, IP, legal or exit work has no funded route. Reforecast when scope, quantity, tax treatment, platform terms or delivery evidence changes.
