Free Project Budget Spreadsheet Template
Plan and track costs for a specific project. Break down the budget by task, phase, or category with actual vs. planned comparisons.
What's Included
- Dashboard with project budget overview showing total planned cost, actual spent, variance, and remaining budget
- Budget detail sheet organized by task or phase with planned amount, actual amount, and variance per line item
- Planned vs. actual cost tracking with automatic variance calculations that flag over-budget line items
- Percentage complete column so you can track budget consumption alongside project progress milestones
- Remaining budget display with color-coded variance indicators (green for under, red for over budget)
- Works in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc with no setup required
Preview
See what's inside this template
How to Use This Project Budget Template
Define budget line items
List each task, phase, or cost category with the planned budget amount on the budget detail sheet.
Enter actual costs
As expenses occur, enter actual amounts alongside the planned figures. The variance calculates automatically.
Track completion
Update the percentage complete column for each line item. This shows budget consumption relative to project progress.
Review the dashboard
The dashboard shows total planned, total actual, overall variance, and remaining budget for the entire project.
Built by Claude AI. Perfected by us.
We use Claude AI to draft each free template, after a deep research. Then our team steps in. We refine the layout, stress-test every formula, fix edge cases, and polish the design until it feels like something we would actually use ourselves. The AI gets us 80% there. The last 20% is all human judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I organize by phase?
Yes. Group line items under phase headers or add a phase column. The template totals work for any organizational structure.
What does the variance show?
Variance is planned amount minus actual amount. Positive means under budget, negative means over budget. Color coding makes overages easy to spot.
How do I handle scope changes?
Update the planned amount for affected line items or add new rows for additional scope. The total planned budget and variance adjust automatically.
Can I track time alongside costs?
The template focuses on budget amounts. Add columns for estimated and actual hours if you want to track labor time for each task.
How do I open this in Google Sheets?
Upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive, then open it with Google Sheets. All formulas and formatting will be preserved.
What license is this template under?
All free templates are released under CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution). You can use, modify, and share them freely - including for commercial purposes - as long as you credit FinancialAha.com. They are provided as-is and do not constitute financial advice.
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