# Budget Decision Map

Ruff Justice | Recreated educational template

Make the funding constraint and approval path explicit before discussing solutions.

## Customer priority
What business outcome is the spend intended to support?

[Your notes]

## Constraint
What specifically prevents approval? What is known versus assumed?

[Your notes]

## Decision roles
Who uses, advocates, approves, and processes the purchase?

[Your notes]

## Required evidence
What does the approver need to decide? Who can validate it?

[Your notes]

## Process and timing
What are the actual steps, dependencies, and customer-confirmed dates?

[Your notes]

## Options to explore
What scope or timing options can the authorized commercial team discuss?

[Your notes]

## Next action and uncertainty
Who owns the next step? What could still prevent agreement?

[Your notes]

## Use responsibly
Do not promise pricing or contractual exceptions outside your authority. Customer enthusiasm is not the same as budget approval.

Newly created for Ruff Justice. Not a former-employer document. Keep confidential information out of shared copies.

## When to use it
Use when procurement slips, budget ownership changes, or the customer raises affordability concerns.

## How to use it
1. Ask what kind of constraint exists: funding, timing, authority, or the business case.
2. Map the decision path with the customer and commercial owner.
3. Document authorized options and the next decision point without forecasting certainty you do not have.

## Fictional worked example
the user team supports renewal, but a new approver needs a documented business case. The CSM helps assemble customer-confirmed evidence while the commercial owner clarifies the approval sequence.

## Related case
The Budget Freeze