Monthly Budget Planner
Plan each category, record transactions, and see what is left to spend this month.
Open the templateEXCELCRAFT PRO TEMPLATE
Business budget
with budget vs actual.
Plan the year month by month for every department, record what actually happened, and see where you are ahead or behind. Each line gets a variance and a forecast for the full year.
Planned pricing: $8 a month or $60 a year. No payment is taken today.
ExcelCraft / Business Budget & VarianceFictional sample
- Monthly plan by department
- Variance by line
- Full-year forecast
INSIDE THE WORKBOOK
Every sheet
has one job.
Mint cells are where you type. White cells calculate. Instructions inside the file explain each field.
- Dashboard
- Revenue, costs and profit year to date against budget, profit by month, costs by department and the number of lines over your alert level.
- Budget
- One row per department and category with a type and twelve monthly amounts; annual and year-to-date totals calculate.
- Actuals
- Dated revenue and costs by department and category. Each row is matched to its budget line.
- Variance
- Every budget line year to date: budget, actual, variance, variance % and a forecast for the year.
- Settings · Checks · Instructions
- Budget year, last closed month, alert level and departments; checks that every actual lands on a budget line.
WHY IT HELPS
Built around
the real task.
Monthly budget by department and category, actuals, and variance with a full-year forecast.
A budget that follows the seasons
Twelve monthly amounts per line, so a busy December is planned as busy rather than averaged across the year.
Variance with a sign you can read
Favourable is positive: revenue above plan or costs below plan. Lines worse than your alert percentage turn red.
A forecast that updates itself
Forecast for the year = actuals so far plus the budget for the months still to come. Close a month and it moves.
GETTING STARTED
Three steps
to your own version.
The sample shows a working example; the blank version keeps every formula ready for your records.
Set the year and departments
On Settings, choose the budget year and the last month with closed actuals, and list your departments.
Enter the plan
Add a line for each department and category with its twelve monthly amounts.
Record actuals monthly
Paste or type actuals with date, department and category. Review Dashboard and Variance after each month end.
QUESTIONS
Before you begin.
Short answers about how the workbook behaves.
Can I budget at a more detailed level?
Yes. Add as many lines as you like per department (up to 500). The Dashboard rolls them up; Variance shows each line.
How do actuals find their budget line?
By department and category name together. If no line matches, the row is flagged on Actuals and excluded until fixed.
What does the alert level do?
Lines that are unfavourable by more than this percentage (10% by default) are counted on the Dashboard and highlighted on Variance.
Can I compare to last year?
This workbook compares against the budget. Keep last year's actuals as a separate budget line set or a separate file.
How do I keep my changes?
Use Download XLSX or PDF in the editor before closing the tab. Nothing is saved to a server automatically, and your workbook never leaves your device while you edit.
Will it work in Excel and Google Sheets?
The files use standard XLSX formulas without macros, pivot tables or external links. They are checked with the ExcelCraft engine; compatibility with every Excel or Google Sheets version is not guaranteed. Review formulas, charts and formatting in your app before relying on important figures.
Can I change the currency?
Amounts use a $ number format. Change the cell format to your currency; the formulas do not convert between currencies.
EXCELCRAFT PRO · EARLY ACCESS
Part of
ExcelCraft Pro.
Pro workbooks cover whole workflows: purchasing to receiving, journal to balance sheet, tasks to portfolio health. Pro is planned to include AI credits for editing through chat. Pro downloads and the AI assistant are not available yet.
- Every Pro workbook as it is released, with dashboards, checks and instructions
- Planned: monthly AI credits for editing spreadsheets through chat
- Planned launch pricing; final terms are not set
$8/ month
or $60 / year · planned launch price
No payment today. We email you once when Pro opens.
How Pro worksRELATED
Works well with.
Separate workbooks for neighbouring jobs. Records do not sync between files.
Bookkeeping & General Ledger
Double-entry journal, trial balance, income statement and balance sheet.
See what is inside
Cash Flow Forecast (13 weeks)
A rolling 13-week cash forecast by category with a minimum-balance warning.
See what is insideYour workbook stays in this browser while you edit. Use Download in the editor to keep your work, and review important figures in the saved copy. How local files are handled.
Original ExcelCraft workbook design, formulas and fictional sample data · CC0. Management tool only; not tax, legal or accounting advice.