Business budgets are a source of truth for your income and expenses. That includes all the money you spend — from A/B testing your marketing campaigns to your monthly office rent.
In my roles, I’ve needed to create budgets for whole projects and smaller writing projects.
While organizing the numbers may sound difficult, I’ve found that using a business budget template makes the process simple. Plus, there are thousands of business budget templates for you to choose from.
In this article, I’ll share seven budget templates that can help organize your finances. But first, you’ll learn about different types of business budgets and how to create one.
Table of Contents
What is a business budget?
A business budget is a spending plan that estimates the revenue and expenses of a business for a period of time, typically monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
The business budget follows a set template, which you can fill in with estimated revenues, plus any recurring or expected business expenses.
For example, say your business is planning a website redesign. You’d need to break down the costs by category: software, content and design, testing, and more.
Having a clear breakdown will help you estimate how much each category will cost and compare it with the actual costs.
Types of Budgets for a Business
- Master Budget
- Operating Budget
- Cash Budget
- Static Budget
- Departmental Budget
- Capital Budget
- Labor Budget
- Project Budget
Business budgets aren’t one size fits all. In fact, there are many different types of budgets that serve various purposes.
Let’s dive into some commonly used budgets:
Master Budget
Think of a master budget as the superhero of budgets.
It brings together all the individual budgets from different parts of your company into one big, consolidated plan. It covers everything from sales and production to marketing and finances.
It includes details like projected revenues, expenses, and profitability for each department or business unit. It also considers important financial aspects like cash flow and capital expenditures. The budget even creates a balance sheet to show the organization’s financial position.
The master budget acts as a guide for decision-making, helps with strategic planning, and gives a clear picture of the overall financial health and performance of your company. It’s like the master plan that ties everything together and helps the organization move in the right direction.
Operating Budget
Your operating budget helps your company figure out how much money it expects to make and spend during a specific period, usually a year. It not only predicts the revenue your business will bring in but also outlines expenses it will need to cover, like salaries, rent, bills, and other operational costs.
By comparing your actual expenses and revenue to the budgeted amounts, your company can see how it’s performing and make adjustments if needed. It helps keep things in check, allowing your business to make wise financial decisions and stay on track with its goals.
Cash Budget
A cash budget estimates the cash inflows and outflows of your business over a specific period, typically a month, quarter, or year. It provides a detailed projection of cash sources and uses, including revenue, expenses, and financing activities.
The cash budget helps you effectively manage your cash flow, plan for cash shortages or surpluses, evaluate the need for external financing and make informed decisions about resource allocation.
By utilizing a cash budget, your business can ensure it has enough cash on hand to meet its financial obligations, navigate fluctuations, and seize growth opportunities.
Static Budget
A static budget is a financial plan that remains unchanged, regardless of actual sales or production volumes.
It’s typically created at the beginning of a budget period and doesn’t account for any fluctuations or changes in business conditions. It also assumes that all variables, such as sales, expenses, and production levels, will remain the same throughout the budget period.
While a static budget provides a baseline for comparison, it may not be realistic for businesses with fluctuating sales volumes or variable expenses.
Departmental Budget
A departmental budget focuses on the financial aspects of a specific department within your company, such as sales, marketing, or human resources.
When creating a departmental budget, you may look at revenue sources like departmental sales, grants, and other sources of income. On the expense side, you consider costs such as salaries, supplies, equipment, and any other expenses unique to that department.
The goal of a departmental budget is to help the department manage its finances wisely. It acts as a guide for making decisions and allocating resources effectively. By comparing the actual numbers to the budgeted amounts, department heads can see if they’re on track or if adjustments need to be made.
Capital Budget
A capital budget is all about planning for big investments in the long term. It focuses on deciding where to spend money on things like upgrading equipment, maintaining facilities, developing new products, and hiring new employees.
The budget looks at the costs of buying new stuff, upgrading existing things, and even considers depreciation, which is when something loses value over time. It also considers the return on investment, like how much money these investments might bring in or how they could save costs in the future.
The budget also looks at different ways to finance these investments, whether it‘s through loans, leases, or other options. It’s all about making smart decisions for the future, evaluating cash flow, and choosing investments that will help the company grow and succeed.
Labor Budget
A labor budget helps you plan and manage the costs related to your employees. It involves figuring out how much your business will spend on wages, salaries, benefits, and other labor-related expenses.
To create a labor budget, you‘ll need to consider factors like how much work needs to be done, how many folks you’ll need to get it done, and how much it’ll all cost. This can help your business forecast and control labor-related expenses and ensure adequate staffing levels.
By having a labor budget in place, your business can monitor and analyze your labor costs to make informed decisions and optimize your resources effectively.
Project Budget
A project budget is a financial plan for a specific project.
Let‘s say you have an exciting new project you want to tackle. A project budget helps you figure out how much money you’ll need and how it will be allocated. It covers everything from personnel to equipment and materials — basically, anything you’ll need to make the project happen.
By creating a project budget, you can make sure the project is doable from a financial standpoint. It helps you keep track of how much you planned to spend versus how much you actually spend as you go along.
That way, you have a clear idea of whether you’re staying on track or if there are any financial challenges that need attention.
How to Create a Business Budget
While creating a business budget can be straightforward, the process may be more complex for larger companies with multiple revenue streams and expenses.
No matter the size of your business, here are the basic steps to creating a business budget.
1. Gather financial data.
Before you create a business budget, it’s important to gather insights from your past financial data. By looking at income statements, expense reports, and sales data, you can spot trends, learn from past experiences, and see where you can make improvements.
Going through your financial history helps you paint an accurate picture of your income and expenses. So, when you start creating your budget, you can set achievable targets and make sure your estimates match what’s actually been happening in your business.
Besides past financials, consider new expenses. For instance, if your business is looking to try a new marketing channel, you’d need to document your goals for that channel. Afterward, walk backward to figure out how much you need to achieve those goals and include it in your budget.
2. Find a template or make a spreadsheet.
There are many free or paid budget templates online. You can start with an existing budget template. We list a few helpful templates below.
You may also opt to make a spreadsheet with custom rows and columns based on your business.
3. Fill in revenues.
Once you have your template, start by listing all the sources of your business’ income. With a budget, you’re planning for the future, so you’ll also need to forecast revenue streams based on previous months or years.
For a new small business budget, you’ll rely on your market research to estimate early revenue for your company. If you’re trying out new channels, consider using industry benchmarks to gauge the revenue to expect.
When you estimate your revenue, you’re essentially figuring out how much money you have to work with. This helps you decide where to allocate your resources and which expenses you can fund.
4. Subtract fixed costs for the time period.
Fixed costs are the recurring costs you have during each month, quarter, or year. Examples include insurance, rent for office space, website hosting, and internet.
The key thing to remember about fixed costs is that they stay relatively stable, regardless of changes in business activity. Even if your sales decrease or production slows down, these costs remain the same.
However, it’s important to note that fixed costs can still change over the long term, such as when renegotiating lease agreements or adjusting employee salaries.
5. Consider variable costs.
Variable costs will change from time to time. Unlike fixed costs, variable costs increase or decrease as the level of production or sales changes.
Examples include raw materials needed to manufacture your products, packaging and shipping costs, utility bills, advertising costs, office supplies, and new software or technology.
You may always need to pay some variable costs, like utility bills. However, you can shift how much you spend toward other expenses, like advertising costs, when you have a lower-than-average estimated income.
6. Set aside time for business budget planning.
Unexpected expenses might come up, or you might want to save to expand your business. Either way, review your budget after including all expenses, fixed costs, and variable costs.
Once completed, you can determine how much money you can save. It’s wise to create multiple savings accounts. One should be used for emergencies. The other holds money that can be spent on the business to drive growth.
7. Conduct budget reviews.
Every budget requires periodic reviews. Regular reviews let you know what’s working and respond to changes in your financial outlook.
When doing a budget review, compare your estimated budget to your actual spend. This lets you know how to make better revenue and expense projections.
There is no rule stating when you should conduct your budget review. However, I’d recommend you do it monthly, quarterly, and yearly.
- Monthly reviews: Check your estimated versus actual spend. Look for items whose actual spend surpasses the estimated cost. Consider cost-cutting measures for such items when forecasting your expenses for the next month.
- Quarterly reviews: Use this review to identify month-over-month budget estimates and actual spend for three months. Use the insights to determine what you should spend less or more on and forecast better for the next quarter.
- Yearly reviews: This review lets you assess your projections for the year. If they were accurate, double down on it. If otherwise, reflect on what didn’t work and use what you’ve learned to make better long-term financial projections for the next year.
How to Manage a Business Budget
There are a few key components to managing a healthy business budget.
Budget Preparation
The process all starts with properly preparing and planning the budget at the beginning of each month, quarter, or year.
You can also create multiple budgets, some short-term and some long-term. During this stage, you will also set spending limits and create a system to regularly monitor the budget.
Budget Monitoring
In larger businesses, you might delegate budget tracking to multiple supervisors.
But even if you’re a one-person show, keep a close eye on your budget.
That means setting a time in your schedule each day or week to review the budget and track actual income and expenses. Be sure to compare the actual numbers to the estimates.
Budget Forecasting
With regular budget tracking, you always know how your business is doing.
Check in regularly to determine how you are doing in terms of revenue and where you have losses. Find where you can minimize expenses and how you can move more money into savings.
Why is a Budget Important for a Business?
A budget is crucial for businesses. Without one, you could easily be drowning in expenses or unexpected costs.
The business budget helps with several operations. You can use a business budget to keep track of your finances, save money to help you grow the business or pay bonuses in the future, and prepare for unexpected expenses or emergencies.
You can also review your budget to determine when to take the next leap for your business. For example, you might be dreaming of a larger office building or the latest software, but you want to make sure you have a healthy net revenue before you make the purchase.
Best Free Business Budget Templates
1. Marketing Budget Template
Best for: Companies executing multiple initiatives across several marketing channels
Knowing how to manage a marketing budget can be a challenge, but with helpful free templates like this marketing budget template bundle, you can track everything from advertising expenses to events and more.
I like this bundle because it is comprehensive and has eight free business budget templates. There are templates for:
- Branding and creative budget.
- Product marketing budget.
- Paid advertising budget.
- Public relations budget.
- Web design budget.
- Content budget.
- Event budget.
The master budget template brings everything together and serves as your single source of truth. It consolidates the different budgets into a massive, company-wide budget sheet. Having a specific template for each initiative can help teams keep track of spending and plan for growth.
2. Project Budget Template
Best for: In-house teams seeking buy-in for complex projects
Every new project comes with expenses.
This free business budget template will help your team calculate the total cost once you enter your labor, material, and fixed costs. You can easily spot if you’re going over budget midway through a project so you can adjust.
This template is especially useful for small companies that are reporting budgets to clients and for in-house teams getting buy-in for complex projects.
3. Free Business Budget Template
Best for: Businesses of all types executing a minimal number of initiatives
Sometimes, you may need to document a simple budget for a few initiatives. In such cases, this free business budget template, which works in Google Sheets and Excel, may be ideal. I like the idea of Google Sheets because it lets others collaborate and comment on the budget.
These business budget templates feature cells for entering your expenses, category, and budget. Afterward, the spreadsheet uses the data to create your total estimated budget.
4. Small Business Budget Template
Best for: Small businesses and new startups
For small businesses, it can be hard to find the time to draw up a budget, but it’s crucial to help keep the business in good health. This is why I like the budget template that Capterra created specifically for small businesses.
This business budget template works with Excel. I like this template because it helps you take inventory of your income and track your monthly expenses. The small business budget template from Capterra includes:
- Operating income.
- Non-operating income.
- Fixed cost.
- Variable cost.
The business expense section of the template is excellent for tracking employee expenses.
The business budget section of the template helps you track your estimated versus actual income. Over time, this information helps you predict the income to expect so you can plan your expenses and have the funds to execute.
To use the business budget template, start by inputting your estimated projections. Once you get the actual figures, input them, and the sheet will calculate the rest automatically.
For the business expense template, you simply input the description and associated cost to get the total cost.
5. Startup Budget Template
Best for: New business owners and startups
Sometimes, you may not have previous numbers to rely on to create profit and expense estimates. Trust me, I have been there, and that’s where Gusto’s budget template helps.
If you are a startup, this budget template will help you draw up a budget before your business is officially on the market. You can track all the expenses you need to get your business up and running, estimate your first revenues, and determine where to pinch pennies.
Gusto’s business budget template has sections for entering:
- Expense.
- Expense category.
- Budget.
- Padding.
- Estimated budget.
6. Company Budget Template
Best for: Companies and small businesses with multiple departments
If you want to keep track of every penny, use this template from TemplateLab to draw up a detailed budget. I like this template because it’s comprehensive, lists expenses like fixed costs, employee costs, and variable costs.
The expense analysis section of the template also includes pie and bar charts to show your expenditure visually. This business template is useful for small businesses that want to keep track of expenses in one document.
7. Administrative Budget Template
Best for: Companies and small businesses with multiple departments and vast tech stack
If you operate your business in-office or work remotely with lots of tools, it may be helpful to keep track of your administrative budget separately.
I like this business budget template from Zapier because it lets you account for administrative expenses like:
- Rent.
- Depreciation.
- Insurance.
- Training and development.
- Communication.
- Marketing tools.
- Sales tools.
- Accounting fees.
Tracking these expenses separately helps you know if you’re overspending on certain elements of your business. It also lets you cut down on what you can do without and save some of your revenue.
Testing It Out
To show you how easy it is to use these templates, I’ll test out the marketing budget template.
Once you download the template, you’ll see the first sheet, showing you how to use it.
What I like about this template: Once I scroll through the sheet, there are populated figures, which I can easily replace. For instance, to enter my content budget, I just need to follow the instructions of filling in my projected expenses.
After each month, I can revisit the template to enter my actual expenses. This lets me know if my projections are right.
A nice inclusion in this template is the year-to-date summary, which continuously updates as I input or delete figures. The graph is also a brilliant touch, as it gives me a virtual overview of where I am spending more.
Following the same process, I can create a product marketing budget, paid advertising budget, public relations budget, etc.
When I finish these individual budgets, I can then populate my master marketing budget with insights from all initiatives. Easy peasy!
Create a business budget to help your company grow.
Making your first business budget can be daunting, especially if you have several revenue streams and expenses. Using a budget template can make getting started easy. And, once you get it set up, these templates are simple to replicate.
With little planning and regular monitoring, you can plan for the future of your business.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in September 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
