Skip to content
WorkspaceTemplates
Excel budget comparing planned and actual spending by line item
Type
Spreadsheet
Price
Free
Difficulty
Beginner
Updated
October 22, 2026

Overview

This budget keeps one row per budget line with planned and actual amounts side by side. The difference column shows at a glance where spending is running ahead of plan.

It is intentionally simple: no hidden sheets or macros. Convert it into an Excel table and you get filtering, banded rows and an automatic total row.

Useful for

  • Small businesses and freelancers tracking monthly costs
  • Department budget owners reporting planned versus actual spend
  • Preparing for a monthly finance review

What's included

  • Columns for month, category, line item, planned, actual, difference and notes
  • Common business categories: software, payroll, marketing, office, travel, professional services
  • Example rows for one month

How to use it

  1. 1

    Download the CSV and open it in Excel.

  2. 2

    Save it as an Excel workbook (.xlsx) so formatting and formulas are kept.

  3. 3

    Select any cell in the data and press Ctrl+T to create a table.

  4. 4

    In the Difference column, enter =[@Planned]-[@Actual] so it updates automatically for every row.

  5. 5

    Enable Table Design → Total Row to sum planned, actual and difference.

What you need

Requirements

  • Microsoft Excel (desktop, web or mobile) or another spreadsheet app

Works with

  • Microsoft Excel
  • Excel for the web
  • Google Sheets
  • LibreOffice Calc
  • #budget
  • #expenses
  • #planning
  • #small-business

Related templates

More Microsoft Excel templatesMore finance templates

More annual budget plan templates

See all 7

Also in Finance

All finance templates
Get this template

    What you get

      Use this templateSee full details

      Preparing your template…