Free Project Budget Tracker (Excel)
Budget vs actual on every line of every project — built for teams, agencies and growing businesses. Set the budget once, log spend as it lands, and the burn lights warn you before a line becomes an overrun.
- Budget vs actual, line by line — remaining and % used work themselves out as spend lands.
- Burn lights, not surprises — every line scores itself: green under 70%, amber 70–90%, red over 90%.
- Committed vs spent — money you've promised (signed quotes, POs) tracked separately from money that's gone.
- Category subtotals — People, Tools & Software, Media & Production and Other roll up, so the hungry bucket stands out.
| Item | Budgeted | Committed | Actual | Remaining | % used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEOPLE | |||||
| Design days | £3,600 | £3,600 | £2,340 | £1,260 | 65% |
| Development days | £7,500 | £7,500 | £5,625 | £1,875 | 75% |
| Copywriting | £1,500 | £1,500 | £750 | £750 | 50% |
| People subtotal | £17,400 | £16,800 | £11,235 | £6,165 | 65% |
| TOOLS & SOFTWARE | |||||
| Plugin & SaaS licences | £480 | £480 | £320 | £160 | 67% |
| Tools & Software subtotal | £1,630 | £1,080 | £760 | £870 | 47% |
| MEDIA & PRODUCTION | |||||
| Photography day | £850 | £850 | £850 | £0 | 100% |
| Video production | £2,400 | £2,400 | £2,980 | -£580 | 124% |
| Paid media (launch) | £1,500 | £1,500 | £1,410 | £90 | 94% |
| Media & Production subtotal | £5,500 | £5,150 | £5,620 | -£120 | 102% |
| OTHER | |||||
| Travel & expenses | £450 | — | £210 | £240 | 47% |
| Other subtotal | £2,400 | £0 | £210 | £2,190 | 9% |
| PROJECT TOTAL | £26,930 | £23,030 | £17,825 | £9,105 | 66% |
Preview of the actual tracker — type budgeted, committed and actual per line; remaining, % used, every subtotal and the burn lights update themselves.
Everything you need to keep a project on budget
Not a blank spreadsheet — a finished tool built by people who run projects. Open it and start typing.
Budget vs actual, per line
One row per cost line — design days, licences, a video shoot. Type budgeted and actual; remaining and % used calculate instantly, no formulas to write.
Burn lights before the blow-up
Every line scores its own burn: green under 70%, amber 70–90%, red over 90%. The line that's about to overrun jumps off the page — while there's still budget to steer.
Committed vs spent
A signed quote is money gone — it just hasn't left yet. Track committed and actual separately, so “remaining” means what's genuinely still yours to spend.
Subtotals & contingency
People, Tools & Software, Media & Production and Other roll up on their own, and a KPI band totals the whole project — including a contingency pot from your chosen %.
Up and running in two minutes
No setup, no login, no learning curve.
Download & open
Grab the .xlsx and open it in Excel (or Google Sheets / Numbers). The Read Me tab explains it in six lines.
Set the budget, log spend as it lands
Give each line a budgeted figure. Log Committed when you promise the money, Actual when it leaves. Everything else fills itself in.
Catch the overrun in week 3, not the post-mortem
Lines turn amber, then red, as they burn. You see the problem while the project is live — not in the wash-up meeting after the money's gone.
Free project budget tracker — questions
Yes — completely free. Fill in the short form above and the Excel file downloads straight away. No payment, no trial, no catch.
Yes. It's a standard .xlsx file, so it opens in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers. The formulas, subtotals and the red / amber / green burn colours carry across.
Committed is money you've promised — a signed quote, a purchase order, a booked shoot. Actual is money that has actually left. Tracking both means “remaining” reflects reality: a project can look healthy on cash out the door while every remaining pound is already spoken for.
It's how we introduce ourselves. We build Landing — the platform where budget tracking happens automatically — and a genuinely useful free tool is a better introduction than an advert. No card details, no trial that expires.
More free tools
Grab another — all free, no signup to browse.
Meet Landing — live budgets on every project, without the spreadsheet
A tracker is a great snapshot — but someone still has to keep it current. In Landing, every engagement has a budget, and logged time becomes real cost automatically — so budget burn and margin health per client stay live as the work happens, alongside projects, CRM, invoicing and 40+ connected tools instead of duct-taped together.
See Landing in action →