November 2021 — This brief describes a budgeting process developed by FHI 360 that enables program staff to explicitly link their budgets to the achievement of specific program outputs and outcomes. Linking Expenditures to Outcomes, or LEO, provides a transparent, reviewable way to align program expenditures with program costs. After a budget has been developed, LEO allows staff to perform a true prospective expenditure analysis that shows funders whether resources have been budgeted effectively. During a project’s implementation, LEO can be used to obtain routine feedback on whether spending is producing the “value for money” envisioned in the project’s design.
