Unspent training budget? What an EA or PA can book before the year ends

If your organisation runs a January to December budget, there is a reasonable chance that some of this year’s training money has not been spent. Finance teams start looking for it in November. By the end of December it is gone, and next year’s allocation is usually set by what was used, not what was needed. If you are an Executive Assistant or Personal Assistant who has been meaning to ask for development, the next six weeks are the easiest time of the year to get a yes.

I have recruited EAs and PAs for over a decade through our sister company, Lily Shippen, and I have watched the same thing happen every autumn. Leadership development budgets get spent to the penny. The budget for the person who runs the leader’s office quietly rolls back into the pot, because nobody put a specific, costed request in front of the right person in time. This is how to do that.

Find out what is left

You do not need to ask your manager for a number. Ask the person who administers the budget, usually in L&D, HR or finance, whether there is unallocated development budget this year and when it closes. Most will tell you, and many will be pleased to be asked, because unspent budget is their problem too. If your manager controls a team budget, ask them directly whether anything is uncommitted. The phrase that works is “I have a specific request if there is anything left.”

Make the request specific

A general wish to develop is easy to defer. A named programme, a price, a date and a one-page case are a decision waiting to be made. Choose what you want before you ask. For most EAs and PAs the choice comes down to three things: a full day on operating as a strategic partner, a day on using AI well in the role, or one-to-one coaching on a specific challenge. We set out what each costs and how to compare providers in how much EA training costs in the UK, and how to frame the ask in how to ask your employer to fund your training.

Solve the date problem

The most common reason year-end requests fail is timing. The budget has to be spent by 31 December, but the training you want is not until February. Most providers will invoice in the current year for a place in the next, and good ones will say so plainly. If the dates are not yet published, or you are not yet sure which programme, ask for a training credit: you pay now for any amount from £150, the invoice is dated this year, and the balance sits on account to use against any programme once the calendar is released. We offer exactly this, and it exists because so many EAs asked for it. The details are on our year-end training budget page.

If what is left does not cover the whole day, that is fine too. Buy a training credit for the amount you have, it stays on account for twelve months, and you top it up from next year’s allocation when you book. Two budget years, one training day, and nothing goes back to the central pot.

Frame it around your executive

The weakest argument is personal development, because it asks your manager to spend money on you. The strongest is what your executive gets back. When you operate more strategically, your executive gets better protection of their time, better preparation and more space for the work only they can do. A training day that returns two hours a week to a chief executive has paid for itself within the quarter. Lead with that, then say what you want and what it costs.

Put it on one page

Five things: the programme and who delivers it, the cost including VAT, the date and how your desk will be covered, what will be different for your executive within a month, and when you will report back. Attach the provider’s employer overview if they have one. We send a one-page overview written for your manager with every eavolve booking, because it is the document that gets the yes.

If the answer is no budget

Ask which budget. Central L&D, the team’s own training line and the executive’s discretionary spend are three different pots, and your manager may only have thought of one. If all three are genuinely spent, ask for your request to be written into next year’s plan now, while the planning is happening. A request in November goes into the budget. A request in March competes with money already allocated.

What you can book with us before the year ends

Our EA & PA Strategy Training Day (£1,500 plus VAT, CPD accredited) and Future Ready EA & PA Training Day (£675 plus VAT) both run in London and Manchester, and both can be booked now for a 2027 date and invoiced in 2026. Coaching packages work the same way. Book or buy a credit by Tuesday 15 December to be certain of a 2026 invoice. Everything is on the training budget page, and if you would like help shaping the case, book a free 30-minute Discovery Call with Emily.

Frequently asked questions