Any advice for a new CIO planning their first budget for IT? What tips do you have for securing the funding IT needs?

Not sure if this will help, but we're building our first formal IT budget this year, as well. Since we've never done this before, my goal was to create a baseline and map current spend rather than forecast with precision.
1. Establish Categories
-Start by organizing IT spend into clear buckets:
-Infrastructure & Network
-Software & Subscriptions
-Hardware Lifecycle (including warranties)
-Personnel (salaries, benefits)
-Professional Services & Managed Services
-ISP & Connectivity
-Security (audits, pen tests, NIST compliance)
-Training, Certifications, Conferences & Travel
-AI (separate line item—this is growing fast)
-Modernization & Strategic Initiatives (5-year view)
-Employee Innovation (we track ideas and implementation)

2. Map Current Spend
Work with accounting to pull 12 months of actuals and assign costs to each category. This gives us a rolling baseline to compare against.

3. Forecast Strategic Initiatives
Identify any major projects on the horizon (cloud migration, AI deployment, etc.) and estimate their costs by category. Tie each initiative to a business objective or risk mitigation. Some benefits are intangible—be ready to explain the "why" behind the spend.

4. Plan for Headcount
Coordinate with HR on turnover and hiring trends. Break down IT personnel costs into OPEX and CAPEX where applicable to support headcount forecasting.

5. Monitor IT Staff Ratio
Track IT headcount relative to total employees. This ratio helps justify staffing levels as the company grows.

6. Build a Living Budget
Use Excel (or similar) tied to Power BI. Track:
-Current year actuals
-Forecasted spend
-Variance

IT budgets flex. A 12-month forward and backward view helps leadership spot trends and understand why IT spend shifts.

7. Institutionalize the Process
Once the first draft is complete, propose quarterly IT budget reviews as part of leadership updates. Consider forming an IT Governance Group to help translate IT spending into business terms.

Remember, this first budget is more map than forecast. It sets the foundation to justify headcount, track trends, and explain IT's role in supporting company growth. And I wish this text box had rich text!

Make sure you include all the budget on tech and leave nothing that is shadow. Reason is that when cuts come, you want to be able to manage the totality, not be left with a part that might have been optimized already.

For a first IT budget, my advice is to link every dollar to business outcomes—show how tech spend drives efficiency, security, or citizen value. Start small with quick wins that build trust, then layer in long-term investments. Speak the language of finance, not just technology, and frame IT as an enabler, not a cost center.