Costs and pricing
Part of Evidence to keep for each multilingual social budget line
A blank multilingual social campaign budget with quote, VAT and closure controls
Use a blank multilingual social campaign budget template with placeholder cost rows, VAT and quote fields, approval gates, sensitivity checks and closure controls.
This multilingual social marketing budget template is deliberately blank. It gives an England buyer a reproducible structure without inventing rates, volumes, tax treatment or results. No rates or figures are supplied by design, so do not expect benchmark costs. Create a new version for each decision and lock the evidence used to fill it.
Cost ranges depend on language pair, unit volume, channel, rights, accessibility formats and review depth. This template therefore asks for supplier quotes rather than benchmarks.
What to take away
- A blank multilingual social budget template gives an England buyer a reproducible structure without inventing rates or results.
- Language need must be self-described or lawfully established, never inferred from a name, postcode, ethnicity or profile.
- Keep cash requirement, full economic cost and variance separate, and do not label recoverable VAT as zero cash.
- Store an evidenced alternative for each uncertain input, with effect on cash and full cost, and reject arbitrary contingency percentages.
- At closure, reconcile ordered, delivered, accepted, invoiced and paid units, and keep financial close on hold for unresolved items.
Project header
Record the decision owner, approval date, budget period, England service or audience task, source asset set, target language and variety, channel, accessibility needs and release authority. The header also records the source of the language-need evidence.
Project header fields to record
- Decision owner and approval date
- Budget period and release authority
- Source asset set and target language
- Channel and accessibility needs
- Reporting currency and exchange source
- VAT reviewer and treatment status
- Confidence date and price basis
Add the financial basis: reporting currency [ ], exchange source and date [ ], price basis [nominal/other approved basis], VAT reviewer [ ], VAT treatment [unresolved until signed] and confidence date [ ].
Cost-input table
| Cost ID | Layer and exact item | Unit | Quantity | Unit amount | Currency | VAT field | Period | Evidence and date | Owner | Inclusions and exclusions | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[ ] | source preparation and rights | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
[ ] | licence or usage, exact edition | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
[ ] | translator or localiser labour | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
[ ] | native-level and subject review | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
[ ] | creative and accessibility production | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
[ ] | research, media and publishing | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
[ ] | assurance, correction and exit | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
Duplicate rows rather than combining unlike units. Add internal labour using the organisation's approved opportunity-cost or accounting method, with role time and period visible.
Cost layers and their units
Cost layer
- Source preparation and rights
- asset or hour
- Licence or usage
- edition or term
- Translator or localiser labour
- word or hour
- Native-level and subject review
- review or hour
- Creative and accessibility production
- asset or format
- Research, media and publishing
- campaign or placement
- Assurance, correction and exit
- review or exit event
Typical unit
- Source preparation and rights
- Licence or usage
- Translator or localiser labour
- Native-level and subject review
- Creative and accessibility production
- Research, media and publishing
- Assurance, correction and exit
Quote-normalisation page
Copy supplier lines without changing their language, then map them to the buyer's cost IDs. Add columns for fixed or variable status, minimum, included capacity, overage rule, revision entitlement, cancellation, renewal, exchange basis and pass-through items. Use unknown when a quote does not answer a field.
Do not assume that a project fee includes accessible formats, human review or export.
Quote-normalisation fields to map
- Copy supplier lines without changing language
- Map to buyer cost IDs
- Fixed or variable status
- Minimum and included capacity
- Overage rule and revision entitlement
- Cancellation, renewal and exchange basis
- Pass-through items and reconciliation column
The row below is a worked example, and it uses no rate. It shows how one supplier quote line reaches a cost ID and a cash date, with the amount left blank until a signed quote fills it.
| Supplier quote line | Mapped cost ID | Quantity and unit | Expected cash date |
|---|---|---|---|
Supplier A, quote line 3, subtitling per finished minute | C-05 creative and accessibility production | [ ] finished minutes at the quoted unit amount | [ ] days after acceptance, entered once the payment term is signed |
Keep a reconciliation column for overlap. A managed service may include a platform charge also appearing in a separate software proposal.
Media spend may pass through an agency or be paid directly from a client-owned account. The budget owner should identify the payer, invoice path, contractual liability and evidence for each amount, so no item is omitted or double-counted.
Calculation sheet
Keep these outputs separate:
Three separate calculation outputs
Output
- Cash requirement by period
- approved cash lines + VAT cash movement
- Full economic cost
- cash cost + internal resource + risk and exit provision
- Variance
- current evidenced amount - previously approved amount
Formula
- Cash requirement by period
- Full economic cost
- Variance
cash requirement by period = approved cash lines + case-specific VAT cash movement
full economic cost = relevant cash cost + approved internal resource cost + evidenced risk and exit provision
variance = current evidenced amount - previously approved amount
Do not label recoverable VAT as zero cash. Do not treat gross revenue, contribution or attributed value as interchangeable. A named accountant should approve signs, recognition and classification.
Add a cash schedule beneath the summary. For each line, enter order date, service period, invoice expectation, payment term, approval owner and expected cash date. Keep accrued or prepaid accounting treatment in a separate reviewer field. This makes a timing shortfall visible without pretending to settle the accounts.
HMRC's VAT place-of-supply notice shows why supplier, customer, service and location fields matter. Its record-keeping notice supports keeping transaction and invoice records. Neither determines the entries for this project.
Find both HMRC notices on GOV.UK by their notice numbers, 741A and 700/21. The ICO contract guidance sits in the ICO's UK GDPR accountability and governance section on ico.org.uk.
Gate and sensitivity pages
Add separate pass, hold, evidence and reviewer columns for translation, native-level language, subject claims, accessibility, privacy and PECR, advertising, IP, safeguarding, security, employment, procurement, contract, tax and finance. The ICO's processor-contract page supports budgeting for data return, deletion and audit where that relationship applies, but is under DUAA review.
Gate reviewer columns to add
- Translation and native-level language
- Subject claims and accessibility
- Privacy and PECR
- Advertising and IP
- Safeguarding and security
- Employment and procurement
- Contract, tax and finance
For each uncertain input, store an evidenced alternative, effect on cash and full cost, decision threshold, owner and next review date. Reject an arbitrary contingency percentage. Freeze the approved workbook, quote set and formulas together so another reviewer can reproduce the total.
Change and closure controls
Give every revision a change ID, request date, reason, affected units, evidence source, approver and effect on the cash schedule. Preserve the prior approved version. Trigger reapproval after a new language, format, supplier, subprocessor, media route, tax fact, accessibility defect or contract variation.
At closure, reconcile ordered, delivered, accepted, invoiced and paid units. Record unused licences or credits without treating them as savings, and test that the buyer can open language assets and evidence exports. An unresolved invoice, missing approval or failed export keeps the financial close on hold.
Before you act
- Record decision owner, approval date, budget period and release authority.
- Establish language need lawfully, never infer from name or postcode.
- Duplicate cost rows rather than combining unlike units.
- Map supplier quotes to buyer cost IDs without changing their language.
- Keep cash requirement, full economic cost and variance separate.
Common questions
How should a buyer handle VAT in the budget?
Add a VAT reviewer and mark VAT treatment as unresolved until signed. Do not label recoverable VAT as zero cash. Keep cash requirement by period as approved cash lines plus case-specific VAT cash movement. A named accountant should approve signs, recognition and classification.
What should be done with uncertain inputs in the budget?
For each uncertain input, store an evidenced alternative, effect on cash and full cost, decision threshold, owner and next review date. Reject an arbitrary contingency percentage.
What controls apply at project closure?
At closure, reconcile ordered, delivered, accepted, invoiced and paid units. Record unused licences or credits without treating them as savings. Test that the buyer can open language assets and evidence exports. An unresolved invoice, missing approval or failed export keeps the financial close on hold.
