how to create a budget on google sheets

When it comes to money management, a little time and effort can go a long way. In a business setting, a budget can be an essential tool for measuring performance over time, setting attainable goals, and informing strategic plans.

For personal use, a budget can help individuals create a plan to reduce debt or increase savings, provide insight into monthly spending habits, and help balance expenses to support one's financial goals. Especially during lean economic periods, a budget can help individuals tighten spending to maintain some financial control and avoid taking on more debt.

A budget allows a business to assess current resources and create more accurate estimates of future revenues and expenses. Actual performance may differ from those projections, but a budget that is both conservative and flexible can help a business navigate and keep track of financial variables as they arise.

One of the benefits of using a budget template is that it can save you time. If you're not familiar with creating a budget, simply fill out the pre-formatted templates with your income and expense information, and the template will do the calculations for you. This makes it easy to organize and analyze your financial data. Below we're offering a wide selection of downloadable, free budget templates. You can save Google Docs and Google Sheets templates to Google Drive for editing and sharing.

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Business Budget Template

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From tracking expenses to creating financial forecasts, an effective budget can help companies manage operations and reach business goals. Small business owners may benefit from a template that keeps the budgeting process straightforward and streamlined. This template is ready to use, and you can also modify it to reflect your business needs.

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Marketing Budget Template

Open Marketing Budget Template - Google Sheets

This template shows the monthly and quarterly budgets for various marketing campaigns. Compare the planned budget with the money spent for each initiative. The template also shows a summary view for a more concise look at your monthly and annual marketing budget.

Department Budget Template

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To use this template, enter all sources of income into the appropriate fields, and then fill in the amounts for each relevant cost in the itemized list of expenses. You can then compare year-over-year annual budget totals - this provides a snapshot of previous budgeting needs for your department to aid in planning for future expenditures.

Balance Sheet Template

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A balance sheet provides a summary of a company's financial standing by weighing its assets, liabilities, and stakeholder equity. Investors can see what assets the company owns, what debt it holds, and how much equity is held by stakeholders. This is a useful tool for compiling and communicating financial data into a quick report.

Expense Budget Report

Open Expense Budget Report - Google Sheets

You can use this expense report template to calculate business trip expenses - both for budget planning and for tracking expenses while traveling or attending events. If the expense report is also used for requesting reimbursement, it's important to keep receipts for every expense incurred. You can add or remove sections on this spreadsheet template to create a customized expense budget report.

Simple Budget Template

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If you want a quick template for managing simple financials, this budget uses both graphic and numerical sections to help you visualize your data. You can also use this template in a business setting to create a simple report, or individuals could use it as an easy money management tool. Easily track income, expenses, and total savings for any time period.

Weekly Budget Template

Open Weekly Budget Template - Google Sheets

This weekly budget template allows you to create a detailed budget with weekly and monthly totals. Tracking weekly spending can help you plan for fixed expenses, and also reveal what variable expenses can be reduced to increase savings. The template can be as comprehensive or simple as you wish - just add or remove expenses to make it your own.

Bi-weekly Budget Template

Open Bi-weekly Budget Template - Google Sheets

This template is designed for planning around a bi-weekly paycheck. You can adjust the dates to match your paydays and subtract any expenses from your base income. This template calculates the difference so that you can track your net income, and it also shows how much of your income you are moving toward savings.

Annual Budget Template

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With this annual budget template, you can view details for each month as well as totals for the entire year. The template also includes a summary sheet to help you quickly visualize spending and financial fluctuations over the course of a year. You can use this template for business or personal use by simply adjusting the sources of income and types of expenses listed.

Zero-Based Budget Template

Open Zero-Based Budget Template - Google Sheets

A zero-based budget helps you allocate your income so that the difference between expenses and income is zero. A portion of your income may go to savings while you divide the remaining amount among fixed and flexible expenses. This template is designed to help you plan your budget and ensure that the final difference is zero, and to make adjustments if you're getting different results.

Personal Budget Template

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Maintaining a personal budget doesn't mean never being spontaneous or allowing yourself an occasional splurge. It does mean, however, that you have a sense of where you stand financially so that you can be smarter about when and where you choose to spend money. This personal budget template lists numerous possible expenses for you to track and anticipate. If you monitor your income and expenses each month, you may save more than expected simply by being aware of how much you have to work with and where your money is going.

Retirement Savings Calculator

Open Retirement Savings Calculator - Google Sheets

You can use this retirement savings calculator to plan your savings and get an idea of how much money you will have at different ages, taking into account inflation, percent return, and retirement withdrawal. A simple spreadsheet template like this can go a long way toward providing some financial security later in life. It can also be used to plan for early retirement by setting and sticking to your savings goals.

Household Budget Template

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Use this template as a family budget planner, and take household expenses into account including costs related to children's education or extracurricular activities. Balance your household budget, track your savings, and make room for vacations or other events that may require extra financial planning with this template.

Shared Expense Calculator

Open Shared Expense Calculator - Google Sheets

If you're sharing a house with other renters or need a budget for a group project or event, this template can help you organize expenses by tracking everyone's participation. A shared expense calculator can help keep rental payments and shared living costs clear to avoid misunderstandings or potential conflicts. Keep track of payments made and who owes money for which expenses.

Home Renovation Budget Template

Open Home Renovation Budget Template - Google Sheets

Home renovation projects are notorious for going over budget. This simple template lets you itemize all of your home renovation costs - from labor to materials - so that you plan accordingly and also accommodate any surprises. Having an organized budget can help keep your project on track and within your financial means.

College Student Budget

Open College Student Budget - Google Sheets

It's never too early to start keeping a budget, especially if you're a college student juggling student loans and part-time jobs. This college student budget lists income and expenses for each semester so that students can plan for various bills, school supplies, and other incidentals. This can help students stay organized, ensure important costs are covered, and plan for entertainment and events.

Wedding Budget Spreadsheet

Open Wedding Budget Spreadsheet - Google Sheets

Whether your wedding is a simple ceremony, a huge event, or something in between, having a budget in place can keep costs low and help you prioritize the most important aspects of your wedding day. This wedding budget spreadsheet shows multiple items that go into the big day, from flowers and decorations to food, clothing, and invitations. You can adjust the template to match your wedding needs, and use it to create a balanced budget and a stress-free wedding day.

Create a More Collaborative Monthly Budget in Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a work management and automation platform that enables businesses and teams to work better. Its pre-built budget templates make it even easier to create a budget, conduct monthly check-ins, and improve accountability. Plus, Smartsheet's powerful collaboration features allow you to attach files, set alerts and reminders, and share your budget with others.

Combine Smartsheet with the G Suite productivity tools you use everyday for a seamless experience designed for collaboration. Stop sending spreadsheets back and forth via email, leverage Gmail and directly update rows in Smartsheet without leaving your Inbox.

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