Need to create a budget? In this article, we’ll explain how to do it, plus you’ll find several downloadable budget templates.
Calculating the costs of an operation or project in advance is, without a doubt, the best way to avoid unnecessary risks when executing them. This is what budgeting achieves—that is, calculating in advance the amount of money needed to cover the costs of a given activity.
Table of Contents
What are budget templates for?
A budget template is a pre-designed document for quickly calculating and organizing costs. It allows you to:
Edit and send easily
Perform more complex operations with formulas
Avoid errors in calculations
Save time and improve financial management
If you need to create a budget or are looking for budget templates, in this article we explain how to do it, the different types of budgets available, and provide several free downloadable budget templates that you can customize in Excel, Word, or with a PDF editor.
What is a budget?
It’s an estimate of the cost of completing a project, taking into account all the expenses that will be incurred. It can be for personal use, for your business, or as a commercial proposal.
Having a well-defined budget, using budget templates or budgeting software , will allow you to have greater control and financial planning for the expenses that a project or operation will entail. This way, you’ll reduce risks and be able to make more informed decisions.
How to create a budget?
To create a budget in Excel, you can find different budget templates to create a spreadsheet that handles numerical and text data to organize information into tables, rows, and columns. You can also create a budget from a blank document.
Before doing so, it’s important to consider some criteria that will allow you to determine the amounts more precisely. Here are some aspects to consider:
Calculate the associated expenses well , such as how much the materials or labor cost.
Decide on a profit percentage, that is, how much you will earn after deducting associated expenses.
Consider your competitors’ prices so you can adjust yours and order reasonable quantities.
Consider whether it’s worth including discounts or promotions that could make your offer more attractive.
Once you’ve considered these aspects, the easiest thing to do is fill out the budget templates with the concepts and data they must include.
You can download these templates and customize them directly on your computer , or use management software like Holed , which will help you automate your data and create budgets much more quickly and efficiently.
What are budget templates?
A budget template is a pre-defined format that allows you to create budgets more quickly and accurately. These types of templates can be in Excel or Word format, as well as in Google Sheets and other similar platforms. The idea is to have an editable document to work from, saving you time and allowing you to plan your accounting more clearly.
Keep in mind that looking for a budget template to send to a client is not the same as looking for a basis for defining the costs of your wedding or trip. Depending on whether you need the budget template for personal or professional use, you’ll need to adapt the fields and criteria.
What are the advantages of using them in business management?
Budget templates are essential for professional management, although they’re not the only solution. There are also programs that allow you to create budgets without using Excel, in a more automated way. In any case, they’re a useful resource for countless purposes:
Organize expenses and income
Calculate possible deviations
Estimate cash flows
Present proposals to clients
Analyze actual expenses and compare them with estimates
Ultimately, a budget template or any other similar tool helps you maintain greater control over your business, minimizing expenses and maximizing revenue or business opportunities.
What data and information should be included in a budget?
To be valid, a budget must include:
Name or business name of the buyer and seller.
Budget number (sorted by numerical series).
NIF of the buyer and seller, as well as their tax address.
Issue date.
Concept.
The unit price and the pre-tax price of each good or service.
Possible discounts or advances.
Taxes (VAT) and Personal Income Tax (IRPF) or mention whether you are exempt from VAT or if there is a reverse charge.
The total amount.
Types of budgets
Master Budget
It brings together information from all departments : production, purchasing, sales, marketing, and administration. That is, all the information related to the financial status of a business.
Operating budget
This report considers all operating activities: production, sales, and administration. It is used to collect and analyze data related to these operations, the current profit and loss statement, and projected future losses.
Sales budget
It helps companies calculate the quantity of products or merchandise they will sell, how long it will take, where and how sales revenue will be generated, etc. It will help them establish objectives and an action plan to ensure they don’t stray too far from the initial calculation.
With an inventory management program that automatically monitors sales flow and business inventory, it will be easier to track and see if forecasts are being met.
Production budget
It is used to specify the costs that will be incurred to carry out the business’s production. To do this, you will need to consider the beginning inventory, the ending inventory, the projected sales, and the projected production.
Again, this task will be much easier if you have all this information organized and monitored in real time with a program. It will also be much easier if this program includes automatic budget creation and budget templates.
Expense budget
The expense account could also be included in the cash flow account and is used to calculate cash outflows or potential outflows over a period of time. This includes payments to suppliers , purchases, team salaries, licenses due, services consumed, etc., that is:
- Fixed expenses
- Variable expenses
- Other types of expenses, such as asset depreciation or financial expenses.
Cash flow budget
Also known as the cash flow report and closely related to the treasury department, this report monitors sales revenue and outflows for payments due. This helps monitor liquidity.
Treasury budget
The treasury is one of the most important areas of a company. It regulates all the business’s monetary operations and oversees cash flow, monitoring the company’s available funds at all times. At the same time, this budget also serves to make a future prediction, which should be as realistic as possible. The treasury budget encompasses both the expenses and the collections budget.
Budget for (potential) clients
This is a commercial proposal that will include detailed information about the product or service offered , its unit price, quantity, the discount that would be applied (if applicable), the VAT rate, the withholding rate (if applicable), and the total amount.
Steps to create a budget
You can use different tools. To create a budget in Excel, you can find different budget templates to create a spreadsheet that handles numerical and text data. Organize the information into tables, rows, and columns.
Before doing so, it’s important to consider some criteria that will allow you to determine the amounts more precisely. It’s recommended that you carefully balance the cost of the transaction.
These are some aspects that should be considered:
- Cover costs. Carefully calculate the cost of materials, production, if selling products, or hourly labor, if providing a service.
- What is the profit margin? In addition to expenses, you’ll need to decide on a profit percentage, that is, how much you’ll earn after deducting the costs associated with the product or service you’re going to provide.
- What market prices are like. You can’t just randomly quote a price. You have to consider your competitors’ prices so you can adjust yours and order reasonable quantities.
- Discounts and promotions . Could you negotiate your budget? Consider whether it’s worth including some discounts or promotions that could make your offer more attractive.
Once you’ve considered these aspects, the easiest thing to do is fill out the budget templates with the concepts and data they must include.
You can download these templates and customize them directly on your computer or use management software, such as Holed , which will help you automate your data and create budgets much more quickly and efficiently.
The 6 Best Downloadable Budget Templates for 2025
Here you can find some budget templates in Word, Excel, and PDF formats that you can customize with the necessary information. They will serve as sample budgets so you can personalize them.
Excel Budget Templates
Below you have different templates at your disposal to easily create a budget in Excel.
Download the budget templates.
Fountain: Office Templates
Template 1
Download cash flow budget templates.
Fountain: Office Templates
Template 2
Budget templates in Word
Do you need Word budget templates to manage your business’s numbers? Here are some basic templates.
Download the client quote template.
Fountain: Office Templates
Template 3
Download the client quote template.
Fountain: Office Templates
Template 4
PDF Budget Templates
If you need PDF budget templates to use as a basis, you can find examples below. But keep in mind that this format isn’t editable and will make it difficult to work on the document.
Template 5Discharge
Template 6Discharge
Is there an alternative to automate budget creation?
Beyond budget templates, there is a more streamlined and automated way to accomplish this task. There are digital solutions that include the option to quickly create budgets and invoices.
A cloud ERP system like Holed allows you to manage all your business financial planning, along with other business functions, all in one. This tool is well-suited to small and medium-sized businesses looking for a comprehensive and scalable solution.
Use Holed to make budgets
While downloading templates can be helpful for improving budget management, nothing compares to managing your budget on a dedicated platform.
With Holed , you can unify all your processes in one place and manage them online. You’ll have real-time access to your business finances, automate tasks, and work more efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an estimate and an invoice?
A quote is a proposal made to a client, offering a specific amount for a service or the sale of a product. Unlike an invoice, a quote is not valid for tax purposes and does not affect your company’s accounting.
What is the difference between a quote and a bid?
A quote is an advance estimate of the cost of a project or service, taking into account factors such as labor, materials, time spent, profit percentage, and other factors. Once approved by the client, it is binding, so we are obligated to maintain the agreed-upon price.
An offer, although often confusing, can be understood as a reduction in the estimated price, proposed at a given time and which can serve to make the offered service or product more attractive.
What is a master budget?
A master budget is one that brings together information from all of your company’s departments: production, purchasing, sales, marketing, administration, etc., that is, all the financial information related to the company’s finances.
