# Budget Stage — Elaboration

## Criteria Guidance

### Good criteria — concrete and verifiable

- "Budget allocations sum to within 2% of the approved total envelope with variance explanations for each department"
- "Each line item maps to a specific forecast assumption and can be traced to a revenue or cost driver"
- "Contingency reserves are sized based on historical variance patterns, not arbitrary percentages"

### Bad criteria — vague (no clear check)

- "Budget is allocated"
- "Numbers add up"
- "Targets are set"

