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Finance guide: budget, sponsorship deals and prize money

Every team in Undercut Racing Manager starts on the same footing – yet some managers always have money left for upgrades and signings, while others constantly balance on zero. The difference almost always lies in how you handle the fixed costs and which sponsorship deal you choose.

The weekly money flow

The finances are updated every Sunday at 20:00. The following happens for all teams at the same time:

On top of that, money comes and goes during the week: prize money per point right after every race, contract bonuses to the drivers, upgrades, signings and sales. Everything shows up in the account statement and in the financial history under the Finance tab.

The fixed costs decide everything

Income varies from week to week. Costs don’t. That’s why the fixed costs are what you need to keep under control.

A large fixed cost is staff. Every mechanic and engineer has their own weekly wage, set in their contract. A new hire starts at around 40,000 kr a week, while staff with high ability and staff in higher divisions cost considerably more. Since staff ability is added up (see the staff guide), every staff member on a car makes it faster – but every one of them also draws a wage each week. Keep an eye on what the whole crew costs compared with your income.

Do a simple check every season: can you afford a full crew on both cars? If not, prioritise the car chasing promotion. Staff in Reserve and extra staff don’t count in the race at all; unless they are meant as replacements, they only cost money.

Which sponsorship deal should you choose?

Without a sponsorship deal, the sponsor income is drawn at random every week based on your division. Under Finance → Sponsorship deals you can instead sign a fixed deal that runs for a whole season. You get three offers:

The bonuses are paid per podium and per win per car, plus a bonus for a championship title. A team with two strong cars can therefore get a lot out of a risk deal. But the deal can’t be cancelled during the season – if the car doesn’t deliver, you’re stuck with a low base amount for ten weeks.

A good rule of thumb: only choose the risk deal if you realistically expect to reach the podium in about every other race or more often. Otherwise the security is worth more than the theoretical bonus.

Don’t forget the Team Principal: his sponsorship skill scales the base amount in all three offers by up to ±15 percent. A new Team Principal starts at 10 but grows by +1 per week. It can therefore pay to wait with a long fixed deal until your Team Principal has passed 50.

Prize money: why promotion is worth so much

After every race the team gets prize money per point its cars score. The amount per point depends on the division:

The same points are worth seven and a half times more in the top division than at the bottom. On top of that, a large season pot is paid out according to the final position in the standings, where the winner gets half the group’s pot – and the pot per group doubles for every division up. Read more in the league pyramid guide.

This means promotion isn’t just about prestige. It changes the team’s whole financial situation. Investing heavily during a season where you have a chance to go up is therefore often smarter than spreading the investment evenly over several seasons.

Popular drivers are worth money

Merchandise income is scaled by the average popularity of your two racing drivers – from up to 60 percent lower to up to 80 percent higher than normal. Popularity grows with wins and podiums and drops after bad races. A driver who wins often therefore brings in money twice: through prize money and through merchandise.

Negative budget: locked, but not bankrupt

Your team can never go bankrupt. But below 0 kr you are heavily restricted: no upgrades, no signings, no new contracts, no training, no scout calls – and 5 percent interest on the deficit every week. The interest means a large deficit grows by itself if your income isn’t enough.

If you end up there, there are three ways out: sell staff, wait for the next finance update or take out a loan. The best thing, of course, is never to end up there – keep a buffer that covers at least one week of fixed costs.

Summary

All exact amounts and tables can be found in the manual.