What it's for
This construction budget template tracks a job's cost against its budget by cost code and projects where each line and the whole job will finish.
The owner, project manager or office manager sets it up from the estimate at award and keeps it current until the last invoice.
It's a spreadsheet, not accounting software: it doesn't read your books, so you type the figures yourself. It tracks cost only, with no company overhead or margin; the bid price calculator turns costs into a price.
What's inside
Two sheets, both protected with no password. Pale yellow cells are yours to fill in; all other cells are locked.
Budget carries our logo, a project block (PROJECT, JOB NO., DATE, PREPARED BY) and three sections.
SUMMARY totals the lines below it. Its one input is Approved change orders (added cost): Current budget is the Original budget plus that figure, and the job's Variance is the current budget less the Projected final.
COST CODES has 40 lines. You fill in COST CODE, DESCRIPTION, COST TYPE and four amounts: BUDGET, from your estimate; COMMITTED, purchase orders and subcontracts; ACTUAL TO DATE, the cost booked so far; and ESTIMATE TO COMPLETE, what you judge is left to spend. PROJECTED FINAL is actual to date plus estimate to complete. VARIANCE is budget less projected final; below zero is an overrun. % SPENT is actual to date as a share of projected final.
TOTALS BY COST TYPE opens with a header row, one merged COST TYPE cell followed by BUDGET, COMMITTED, ACTUAL TO DATE and PROJECTED FINAL, then adds up those four figures by type, with a Total.
About this template holds three steps, a note on the example figures, the version (v2, 2026-09-24), the license and links.
How to fill it in
- Fill in the project block, then replace or clear the five example lines and the example Approved change orders (added cost). Anything left in is counted.
- Enter the budget from your estimate, one line per cost code, with the estimate's own codes. Our guide on how to build a construction estimate explains why one structure should run from takeoff to closeout. COST CODE is formatted as text, so a code keeps its leading zeros.
- Give every line a DESCRIPTION and a COST TYPE: Materials, Labor, Subcontractors, Equipment or Other. A line counts once its description or any of its four amounts (budget, committed, actual to date or estimate to complete) is filled in: it gets a real Projected final and Variance, and counts in the totals like any other line. A line with none of the five stays blank and counts nowhere. A line with no type drops out of the totals by type and shows under Lines not counted above, which should read $0.00.
- As purchase orders, subcontracts and invoices are booked, update COMMITTED and ACTUAL TO DATE as running totals for the job, not the month. A credit or a back charge takes a minus sign.
- Each month, type each line's ESTIMATE TO COMPLETE, your judgment of what's left; the file doesn't calculate it. On a committed line, include what's committed but not yet booked. A blank counts as zero, as if the line were finished.
- Add a change order to Approved change orders (added cost) only once it's signed, at its cost to you rather than its price; a deductive change takes a minus sign. The total raises the Current budget, not any line's budget.
- Read VARIANCE. Below zero, the cell turns pale orange, on a line or on the summary.
The worked example
The file opens on five lines labeled "Example:" and $2,500.00 of approved change orders, which the About tab calls illustrative figures to replace with your own.
| Cost code | Description | Cost type | Budget | Committed | Actual to date | Estimate to complete | Projected final | Variance | % spent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 00 00 | Example: general conditions | Other | $12,000.00 | $0.00 | $4,500.00 | $7,500.00 | $12,000.00 | $0.00 | 37.50% |
| 03 30 00 | Example: concrete | Subcontractors | $28,000.00 | $28,000.00 | $14,000.00 | $14,000.00 | $28,000.00 | $0.00 | 50.00% |
| 06 10 00 | Example: framing lumber | Materials | $22,000.00 | $23,800.00 | $23,800.00 | $0.00 | $23,800.00 | −$1,800.00 | 100.00% |
| 06 10 00 | Example: framing labor | Labor | $18,000.00 | $0.00 | $9,200.00 | $8,000.00 | $17,200.00 | $800.00 | 53.49% |
| 22 00 00 | Example: plumbing | Subcontractors | $15,000.00 | $15,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $10,000.00 | $15,000.00 | $0.00 | 33.33% |
| Summary | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original budget | $95,000.00 |
| Approved change orders (added cost) | $2,500.00 |
| Current budget | $97,500.00 |
| Committed | $66,800.00 |
| Actual to date | $56,500.00 |
| Estimate to complete | $39,500.00 |
| Projected final | $96,000.00 |
| Variance | $1,500.00 |
| % spent | 58.85% |
Framing lumber is the overrun: $23,800.00 committed and spent against a $22,000.00 budget, with nothing left to buy, so its variance is −$1,800.00, shaded pale orange. The concrete and plumbing lines carry each subcontract's unbooked balance as their estimate to complete.
The job's Variance still reads $1,500.00, unshaded, because the $2,500.00 of change orders raise the current budget without sitting on any line. Lines not counted above reads $0.00 across.
Frequently asked questions
Does the file do the math?
Yes. Every calculated figure is a live formula.
Does it work in Google Sheets or Numbers?
It works in Excel and Google Sheets, and it has no macros. Its formulas and color rules use only IF, OR, AND, ROUND, SUM and SUMIF. We don't promise Numbers for the overrun shading, which is conditional formatting, and some file previewers don't draw it.
Can I add more cost codes?
Yes. With the protection off (there's no password), insert rows between two of the 40 lines so the summary and the totals take them in, then copy the three calculated cells into each new row.
Can I put my logo on it?
It carries our logo, with no spot for yours. With the protection off (there's no password), you can swap in your own.