How to Create an Excel Budget
Here is a guide on how to make a budget in Excel. Making a budget is a useful aid to get a solid overview of your personal finances, or the finances of a company.
A budget consists mainly of the quite simple arithmetic operations addition and subtraction. This is something a spreadsheet can do for you with ease.
Excel Instruction
Making a Budget Spreadsheet
- 1.
- Divide your different income and expenses into separate categories. These categories will depend on your sources of income (or the company’s). Do the same with your expenses.
- 2.
- Enter the amounts for each category.
- 3.
- Sum your income, and then your expenses.
- 4.
- Lastly, calculate the projected surplus or deficit by subtracting expenses from income.
Example 1
Erica Clementine is making an overview of all the income and expenses she expects in a certain month. She needs your help to use Excel to create a budget.
- 1.
- Below you have categorized Erica Clementine’s various income sources and expenses.
| Income | Amount | Expenses | Amount |
| Bookstore (part time) | $ | Bus card | $ |
| Dog sitting | $ | Phone subscription | $ |
| Monthly allowance | $ | Food and snacks | $ |
|
|
| Clothes and shoes | $ |
|
|
| Entertainment | $ |
|
|
| Other | $ |
- 2.
- Enter these numbers into
Excel: - 3.
- Eventually, sum all the income and expenses, and find Erica Clementine’s surplus/deficit:
Here are the formulas used for each cell.
Note! Notice that Erica Clementine’s budget had a surplus because the number in cell B11 is positive. You should always set up budgets with a surplus.
