Overhead budget 2026
The fixed costs that run every month whether projects bill or not — and how much we must bill to cover them.
3 lines went more than 10% over budget in September: fuel +400, vehicle +350, visa & PRO +450.
Total overhead was only AED 300 over (+0.2%) because salaries and miscellaneous came in under. October will be higher: Ramesh Thapa's visa, Bikash Gurung's Emirates ID and the Hilux registration are all due.
Monthly budget
AED124,400
11 categories · salaries are 76%Fuel +400 pending approval
September actual
AED124,700
+300+0.2% vs budget · +1.3% vs August
Year to date (Jan–Sep)
AED1,075,600
44,000 underbudget 1,119,600 · −3.9%
Break-even billing
AED226,180
per month · at 45% project-cost ratio
Budget vs actual by category
Operational expenses only · project costs are budgeted per project| Category | Monthly budget | Sept actual | Variance | Used | YTD variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salaries & wages24 staff · WPS · incl. overtime 2,920 | 95,000 | 94,600 | −400 | 100% |
−42,600 |
| Labour accommodationAl Muhaisnah 2 camp · paid quarterly by cheque | 6,500 | 6,500 | 0 | 100% |
0 |
| Warehouse rentWarehouse 14, Al Quoz 3 · quarterly PDC | 7,500 | 7,500 | 0 | 100% |
0 |
| Fuel3 vehicles · Hilux 1,860 · Hiace 1,720 · Sunny 620 | 3,800 | 4,200 | +400 | 111% |
+900 |
| Vehicle maintenance & SalikHiace service overdue · Salik 312 · 1 fine (recovered) | 2,000 | 2,350 | +350 | 118% |
+1,800 |
| Transport & logisticsHired trucks, couriers, parking | 2,000 | 1,900 | −100 | 95% |
−1,100 |
| Visa, insurance & PRONew joiner visa (Abdul Kareem), medicals, typing | 3,000 | 3,450 | +450 | 115% |
+3,600 |
| Utilities & telecomDEWA, du internet & 9 mobile lines | 1,600 | 1,650 | +50 | 103% |
0 |
| Office & adminStationery, software, bank charges | 1,200 | 1,250 | +50 | 104% |
+100 |
| Repairs & maintenanceWarehouse, tools and camp repairs | 800 | 650 | −150 | 81% |
−1,900 |
| MiscellaneousStaff welfare, donations, small items | 1,000 | 650 | −350 | 65% |
−4,800 |
| Total overhead | 124,400 | 124,700 | +300 | 100.2% | −44,000 |
YTD salaries are under budget because 4 positions were filled during the year, not in January. Lines over budget by more than 10% send an alert to Joseph and both partners.
Did we bill enough to cover overhead?
Monthly income vs break-even billing of AED 226k · AED thousandsAbove break-evenBelow break-even
Months above4 of 6
6-month average230,367
Break-even226,180
Headroom+1.9%
How the break-even is worked out
Projects cost about 45% of what we bill, so 55% of each dirham billed pays for overhead. AED 124,400 ÷ 0.55 ≈ AED 226,180 of billing a month. Every extra AED 1,000 of monthly overhead needs about AED 1,820 more billing.
Overhead trend
Operational expenses per month · AED| AED | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 119,600 | 120,900 | 121,800 | 122,400 | 123,100 | 124,700 | 124,400 |
| Change | — | +1.1% | +0.7% | +0.5% | +0.6% | +1.3% | — |
Overhead grew 4.3% in 6 months, mostly salaries for new site staff. Average ≈ AED 122,000 a month.