Distinguish programme charges from the costs and consequences of making assets liquid. The amount available after a transaction may differ from its headline value.
Use qualified estimates
Ask advisers to identify transaction expenses and applicable financial or tax consequences without assuming a universal rate. Include exchange and transfer arrangements where relevant. A budget should show its assumptions and uncertainties; it should not present expected sale proceeds as a guaranteed net amount or imply the contribution is recoverable investment capital.
Use qualified estimates and mark them as such, since an asset-funded budget contains more uncertainty than a cash-funded one and pretending otherwise produces a plan that fails quietly. For each line, record whether the figure is a published amount, a professional quote, or an estimate, together with its date and source. On the funding side, the estimate should be net: the expected price less costs of sale, any charge to be discharged, and the tax likely to arise, with advice obtained on the last of these rather than a rule of thumb applied.
On the application side, take amounts from current official materials. Then include a contingency sized to the uncertainty in the sale rather than a token figure, and identify what the applicant would do if the asset realized materially less than expected.