# Budget Builder *A Boost Occupancy AI Script | Category: Dashboards* > **How to use this prompt** > 1. **Export your T-12** (trailing 12-month operating statement) and a **current rent roll** from your property management software. > 2. **Delete resident names** and any other personal information from the rent roll. > 3. Copy this entire prompt, from the title to the last line. > 4. Paste it into a new chat in an AI tool that can **read spreadsheets or PDFs** (for example Claude or ChatGPT). > 5. Upload both files and answer the AI's questions. *Best guesses are fine.* > 6. **Download the HTML file** the AI gives you. Open it in any browser, print it to PDF, or send it to a colleague. > > *Lines that start with **Student note** explain what each part of the prompt does. You can read them, then leave them in. The AI will skip them.* **Note to the AI:** Ignore any line that begins with "Student note." Those lines explain this prompt to the person using it. They are not instructions for you. --- ## Your Role You are a **multifamily occupancy analyst** who thinks like an owner-operator. Your job is to draft **next year's operating budget** from my T-12 and rent roll, with **every assumption written down.** --- ## Why This Matters **A budget is a forecast with dollar signs.** If the assumptions are hidden, nobody can tell whether the budget is realistic until it's too late. > **Student note:** *A T-12 shows what happened over the last 12 months. A budget shows what you expect over the next 12. This prompt uses the first to build the second.* --- ## Step 1: Get the Files and Assumptions Ask me for my **T-12** and **rent roll** first. **Remind me to remove resident names.** Then ask me these questions **one at a time.** Ask one question, **wait for my answer,** then ask the next. *Start each one with its number, for example "Question 2 of 5," so I know how many are left.* *Suggest a reasonable default for each one, labeled as a default, so I can just say "use the default."* 1. **Budget year:** the first month of the budget. 2. **Occupancy path:** current occupancy and the occupancy I expect each quarter. 3. **Rent growth:** expected increase on **new leases** and on **renewals.** 4. **Renewal rate:** the share of expiring leases I expect to renew. 5. **Concessions:** any specials I plan to run, and for how long. 6. **Known expense changes:** tax reassessment, insurance renewal, payroll changes, new or rebid contracts, utility rate changes. 7. **General expense inflation:** for any line without a known change. 8. **Other income:** any new fees or changes to existing ones. --- ## Step 2: Build the Income Side Build income **month by month**: - **Scheduled rent:** start from the rent roll. For each month, apply renewals and new leases at my growth rates **as leases expire.** - **Vacancy:** apply my occupancy path. - **Concessions:** apply my plan, and show when each one **burns off.** - **Bad debt:** use the T-12 level unless I tell you otherwise. - **Other income:** use the T-12 level plus any changes I gave you. **Flag any month where more than about 10% to 12% of units have leases expiring.** That's a concentration risk. > **Student note:** *Building income from the rent roll, lease by lease, is more accurate than adding a percentage to last year. It shows exactly when rent increases actually take effect.* --- ## Step 3: Build the Expense Side Group T-12 expenses into: **Payroll, Repairs and Maintenance, Turnover, Contract Services, Marketing, General and Administrative, Utilities, Management Fee, Insurance,** and **Real Estate Taxes.** - Start each category from its T-12 total. - Apply my **known changes** first, then **general inflation** to everything else. - **Turnover:** tie it to the number of expected move-outs, not just last year's total. - **Management fee:** calculate it as a percentage of budgeted income. - **Spread** expenses by month using the T-12 pattern where it makes sense, such as higher utilities in summer or winter. *Remove one-time T-12 items, such as a large legal bill or a storm repair, and list what you removed.* --- ## Step 4: Stress Test It Show what happens to NOI if: - Occupancy comes in **2 points lower** than planned - The renewal rate comes in **10 points lower** - Insurance or taxes come in **10% higher** --- ## Output Format **Deliver the report as one downloadable HTML file, not as Markdown in the chat.** Make it a single, self-contained `.html` file with all styling inside it (Google Fonts is the only outside link). It should read well on screen, print cleanly to PDF, and be easy to email to a colleague. Name the file after the property and this report. If you can't create files, put the complete HTML in one code block so I can save it as an `.html` file. In the chat, add only a two or three line summary of the key points. Give me the report in this order, using these headings: ### 1. Headline One or two sentences: budgeted NOI, and how it compares to the T-12. ### 2. Assumptions Table | Assumption | Value Used | Source (Mine or Default) | |---|---|---| ### 3. Annual Summary | Line | T-12 Actual | Budget | Change | Change % | |---|---|---|---|---| ### 4. Monthly Budget A table with **one column per month** and rows for each income and expense category, total income, total expenses, and NOI. ### 5. One-Time Items Removed What you removed from the T-12 and why. ### 6. Stress Test | Scenario | Budgeted NOI | Change | |---|---|---| ### 7. Risks to Watch The three assumptions most likely to be wrong. **End the report with this line:** *Built with the Boost Occupancy AI Script Library: boostoccupancy.com/ai-script-library* --- ## Rules - **Use only my files and my answers.** Label every default and every estimate. - **Show the math** behind income and any major expense change. - **Protect privacy.** Never include resident names or personal information in the report. - **Call it a draft.** This is a starting point for review, not a final budget. - **Write plainly.** Short paragraphs, no hype. - **No promises.** Do not promise occupancy, valuation, refinance, or sale results. - **Visual style.** If no brand or style guide has been provided, style any formatted output in the Boost Occupancy look: navy #001A3E for headings, header bands and body text; orange #ED5E2E as a sparing accent for key numbers, labels and buttons; light gray #F6F6F4 for cards and table headers on a white background; Fustat (bold) for headings and Host Grotesk for body text, both from Google Fonts; clean, calm layouts with plenty of white space, simple tables and no stock photos or emoji. If I have given you my own brand colors, fonts, or style guide, use mine instead. Never mix the two.