Seven Business Budget Templates for Savvy Business Leaders

Any business owner can tell you that money management is a huge task. Balancing revenue, projecting spend, estimating project costs, developing a compensation strategy — all of these facets can get lost in the weeds when you don’t have a way to organize and plan for your finances. 

This is where budgeting can make a world of difference.

A budget is a roadmap for your company's financial health. It helps you allocate resources wisely and plan for growth. Whether you're aiming to boost profitability or gain a clearer picture of your finances, these budget templates can help guide you to financial wellness.

1. Static Budget Template

Best For: Predictable sales and new businesses

A static budget does not adjust in reaction to actual sales or production volumes. This makes them ideal for nonprofits and government organizations, as their revenues and expenses typically stay the same over time. 

Still, any organization can use a static budget template if they know how much money they will earn versus how much they will spend. For example, a startup company that is creating a financial plan may choose this business budget template if its revenue doesn’t fluctuate very much. These budgets often include:

• Projected revenues. This section outlines your business's revenue projections. It provides a detailed breakdown of expected income sources, allowing you to anticipate and plan for fluctuations in your cash flow. 
• Fixed costs. Fixed costs are the recurring expenses that remain constant over a specific period, regardless of your business' output or sales. The static budget template includes a dedicated section for these expenses, helping you keep track of essential financial obligations such as rent, salaries, and utilities.
• Variable costs. Variable costs are expenses that fluctuate in direct proportion to your business's production or sales volume. This business budget template allows you to account for variable costs accurately so that you can make informed decisions about scaling your operations.
• Profit projections. This portion of a template helps estimate your business's profits based on your projected revenues and cost structure. This crucial information is instrumental in setting realistic financial goals and measuring your actual performance against them.

2. Overhead Budget Template

Best For: Service-based businesses

An overhead budget tracks and manages business costs that don’t contribute directly to revenue production (such as software fees). Service-oriented enterprises, such as consulting firms, law offices, or healthcare providers, find this particularly useful. Common elements here include:

• Administration expenses.  Think of expenses related to office supplies, computer hardware, office equipment maintenance, and other operational necessities.
• Taxes. These templates cover provisions for estimating and planning for various business tax liabilities, such as income tax and payroll tax. They can also address taxes relevant to your particular industry.
• Rent. For businesses that lease office space or facilities, rent is a significant overhead cost—which is included in these business budget templates.
• Utilities. Utility expenses, including electricity, water, heating, and cooling, are essential for many businesses. This template helps you forecast and monitor such costs to stay within your budget.
• Insurance. Service-based businesses often require specific insurance coverage, such as professional liability insurance or general liability insurance. A strong template includes a section for estimating insurance premiums and ensuring your business is adequately protected.

3. Multiple-Project Budget Template

Best For: Project-oriented companies

This template is designed to facilitate project management by providing a comprehensive overview of budgets and expenses for multiple ongoing projects. Companies engaged in various projects simultaneously — such as construction firms, marketing agencies, or software development companies — often find this type of business budget template indispensable. You can input estimated costs, revenues, and other financial data relevant to that specific project. They typically address:

• Resource allocation. This kind of business budget template should allow you to divvy up personnel, equipment, and materials for each project. This provides you have a clear understanding of resource utilization and availability.
• Cost tracking. The template also typically provides tools for tracking expenses related to labor, materials, subcontractors, or any other project-specific costs.
• Revenue projections. By comparing projected revenues to actual revenues, you can assess the financial performance of individual projects and make adjustments as necessary.

4. Startup Budget Template

Best For: Entrepreneurial ventures

If you are exploring potential business ventures and need a place to begin, a startup business budget template may do the trick. It provides a framework for planning and managing the finances of a startup. Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and anyone launching a new venture can use this template to map out initial capital requirements and understand market costs.

• Initial capital requirements. This section helps you identify and quantify the amount of capital required to get your business off the ground. It includes costs related to product development, equipment purchases, legal fees, and any other upfront expenses.
• Operational expenses. This section helps you to forecast and track monthly or yearly expenses such as rent, utilities, salaries, office supplies, and more, helping you maintain control over your cash flow.
• Marketing costs. This section helps you estimate expenses for promotional activities like  like influencer partnerships, having blogs or emails written, or marketing consultants.
• Growth projections. The growth projections section of the business budget template enables you to set realistic goals and estimate your business's revenue and profitability trajectory.

5. Labor Budget Template

Best For: Workforce-centric businesses

A labor budget template is for CEOs and business owners who are particularly focused on employee loyalty and their workforce. It is well-suited for organizations where labor costs represent a significant portion of the overall budget. Workforce-centric businesses, such as hospitality establishments and healthcare providers, tend to lean towards this option due to the following template details.

• Payroll expenses. This section allows you to input details for each employee, including their salary or hourly rate, work hours, and any relevant deductions. It helps you project total labor costs accurately.
• Benefits and bonuses. Many businesses provide additional employee benefits and bonuses, such as healthcare benefits, retirement contributions, or performance bonuses. This type of business budget template includes sections for estimating and tracking these costs.
• Overtime costs. Overtime can be a significant cost for businesses with variable workloads or extended operating hours, and this business budget template helps you account for any such projected overages. 
• Labor productivity metrics. You can measure the efficiency of your workforce by tracking KPIs like revenue per employee, units produced per hour, or customer service response times.

6. Cash Flow Budget Template

Best For: All business types

This is the jack-of-all-trades: the cash flow budget template. Suitable for all types and sizes of businesses, owners can use it to track, forecast, and manage cash inflows and outflows. This is key if you want to create financial stability now, and to make informed decisions about organizational development.

• Cash inflows. This section helps you record all sources of cash entering your business. It includes revenue from sales, loans, investments, and any other cash receipts. By tracking cash inflows, you can anticipate when funds will become available and ensure that you have the necessary liquidity to cover expenses.
• Cash outflows. On the flip side, cash outflows represent all the expenditures your business makes. This includes operating expenses, loan repayments, purchases of assets, and any other cash disbursements.
• Net cash flow calculations. A great template will help you calculate the net cash flow, which is the difference between cash inflows and cash outflows. A positive net cash flow indicates that your business is generating more cash than it's spending, while a negative net cash flow signals potential liquidity issues.
• Financial health indicators. Beyond net cash flow, the template provides key financial health indicators such as the cash flow ratio, which assesses your business's ability to cover its obligations with available cash.

7. Administrative Budget Template

Best For: Streamlining administrative costs

This business budget template focuses on managing and optimizing expenses related to office operations, such as office costs and administrative staff salaries.

• Office rent and maintenance costs. This section allows you to input details about your office lease or rent, including monthly or annual costs, and any maintenance or repair expenses.
• Office supplies. The template also includes sections for estimating and tracking expenses related to supplies like stationery, printer ink, furniture, and other necessary items.
• Administrative staff salaries. Personnel costs are a crucial component of administrative budgets. This section allows you to detail the salaries, benefits, and bonuses of administrative staff members.
• Utilities and communication expenses. An administrative budget template helps with utilities costs, too, such as electricity, water, heating, cooling, and communication expenses like phone and internet bills.

Benefits of Periodic Budget Reviews

Periodic budget reviews are used to align financial statements with company goals.  These reviews can help you  assess whether your business's income and expenditures are on track as planned. By regularly analyzing your budget, you can identify variances and pinpoint potential financial challenges to stay on track with your strategic objectives. 

How to Design Your Business Budget Plan

Your budget plan is the foundation of your entire business operations, so designing an effective plan is the first step toward success. Here are some quick steps you can take to get a strong plan in motion:

1. Set Goals and Objectives: Begin by defining your business objectives. Are you aiming for increased profitability, cost reduction, or expansion? Your aim will guide your budgeting decisions.
2. Gather and Analyze Data: Collect financial data and assess your historical performance. Then, understand your revenue sources such as sales, investments, loans, and grants.
3. Expense Planning: Next, determine your fixed and variable costs. You can factor in one-time expenses and calculate cash flow projections, too.
4. Regular Monitoring: Just like your business is changing and growing, so will your budget. Continuously review your budget against actual performance, making adjustments as needed.
5. Adapt and Invest: Budgeting is an ongoing process. Regularly review and adapt your budget plan as your business evolves, market conditions change, and new opportunities arise.

Budgeting Methods

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all when it comes to budgeting. Various budgeting methods exist, each with its unique approach and advantages. Consider these common budgeting methods as you prioritize financial wellbeing.

Incremental Budgeting:

How it Works: Incremental budgeting involves starting with the previous period's budget and making adjustments based on expected changes.

Best For: Stable businesses with consistent expenses. It's less time-consuming but may miss opportunities for cost optimization.

Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB)

How it Works: ZBB requires justifying every expense from scratch, irrespective of the previous budget. It promotes efficient cost management and accountability.

Best For: Organizations aiming to cut unnecessary expenses, optimize resource allocation, or when starting from a clean slate.

Activity-Based Budgeting (ABB):

How it Works: ABB allocates resources based on the expected volume of activities or services. It links budgets to specific operational activities.

Best For: Service-oriented businesses and those looking to align budgeting with operational goals.

Looking to Drive Down Your Expenses? 

By selecting the right business budget template, tailored to your business's unique needs, you can cut down on organizational expenses. 

Working a corporate wellness program into your budget can help you save money over time: Wellhub clients saw the healthcare costs reduce for active users by up to 35% in one year, and turnover drop by 40%.

Talk to a wellbeing specialist about how you can start saving!