Operating Budget and Transparency¶

Why Beancount?¶

We use Beancount for our financial tracking because it's:

• Plain text, version-controlled, and auditable
• Built for double-entry bookkeeping without the complexity of Xero/MYOB
• Open source, with tools for reconciliation and reporting

The ledger currently resides in our private repository, with scripts that:

• Import and process ANZ bank statements (via Akahu Open Banking API)
• Categorize transactions with classification rules
• Export aggregated summaries for the public report you see below

Current Snapshot (13 October 2026)¶

Reconciled through 13 October, with both ANZ accounts fetched fresh from Akahu and agreeing with the ledger to the cent:

Every bank transaction is currently classified.

• Total founder equity contributed: $10,341.24 NZD (initial funding of $10,000.00 in July 2025, payroll-allocation contributions totalling $241.24, and a \(100.00 DevOpsDays 2027 donation paid directly into its earmark; **\)405.59** of the total currently sits ring-fenced in project earmarks, the remainder having been spent on the events they were set aside for)
• JJobs held funds: $5.59 NZD (getjjobs.nz renewal deducted from held funds)
• Project earmarks: $405.59 NZD (DevOpsDays 2027 $100.00; SFD 2026 facilitator $300.00; JJobs $5.59)
• Unspent earmark: the $300.00 set aside for SFD 2026 facilitation was not needed and will be reallocated
• Expenses to date: $6,410.90 NZD (hosting — DigitalOcean, AWS, Rimu, Bytescale, Namecheap, Metaname, ForwardEmail; events, meetups and catering; trademark R&D; AI and software subscriptions; marketing; meals; equipment; operational costs)
• Income (interest, donations): $62.29 NZD (bank interest $42.29, OpenCollective contribution $20.00 still in Stripe transit)
• Net result: -$6,348.61 NZD (loss while bootstrapping)
• Current bank balance (ledger): $3,624.46 NZD (Call $3,250.00 + Current $374.46)
• Discretionary funds available: $3,218.87 NZD (bank balance minus project earmarks)
• Prepaid Metaname credit: $104.67 NZD
• Stripe funds pending settlement: $19.09 NZD (a December 2025 OpenCollective contribution, held pending the settlement process being finalised)
• AWS hosting fees were $145.28 this period, these were for legacy NIMHQ project costs that will soon move off the SMUNZ ledger and back to JB's personal expenses. SMUNZ now has its own AWS account (with a $200 hosting credit) for its own infrastructure, eventually a small RDS instance storing the raw Akahu transaction feed.

Expenses & Income (NZD)

Assets & Liabilities (NZD)

Sustainability Principles¶

• Keep burn rate low
• Avoid dependence on a single funder or partner
• Use open-source and decentralized tools where practical
• Build systems others can fork and reuse

This budget is intentionally lean — as we grow, our operating model may evolve. Our goal remains: reliable infrastructure with minimal financial friction, built on planning and relationships. We’re not here to rack up billable hours; if you find value in what we do, we invite contributions and collaboration.