Budget vs Actual Template

🟩 1️⃣ BASIC VERSION

A clean, functional Budget vs Actual spreadsheet in English — built for simplicity and clarity.

Budget vs Actual

Core Features:

🔹 Simple structure with Category, Budget, Actual, and Difference
🔹 Automatic Difference = Budget − Actual formulas
🔹 Automatic Totals row at the bottom
🔹 Currency formatting ($#,##0.00)
🔹 Readable column layout and clean borders
🔹 Light-colored header row
🔹 Table format with alternating row shading
🔹 Frozen header row for easier navigation

👉 Purpose: A solid foundation for comparing planned vs. actual spending — ideal for quick tracking or small projects.

No charts, no conditions, just the essentials — clean and dependable.

🟨 2️⃣ ADVANCED VERSION

An upgraded, smarter Budget vs Actual workbook — adding visuals, monthly analysis, and automated feedback.

Added Features Compared to Basic:

🔹 Layout & Visualisation
- Added Variance % column (Difference ÷ Budget)
- Added Conditional formatting (red highlight when overspending occurs)
- Introduced Pie Chart of Budget by Category
🔹 Analytics & Structure
- Added Monthly Breakdown sheet (Jan–Dec)
- Automatic totals and variance per month
- Cumulative (Running Total) columns for Budget, Actual, and Difference
- Automatically calculated Variance % per month
🔹 User Experience
- Clear instructions area on the right-hand side
- Automatic total row for annual overview
- Consistent USD formatting throughout

👉 Purpose: A visually enhanced and data-driven tracker for personal or departmental budgeting.

Perfect for those who want to see where the money goes month by month, without manual work.


🟥 3️⃣ EXPERT VERSION

A complete financial control system — turning the simple spreadsheet into a fully featured internal budgeting tool.

Includes everything from Basic + Advanced, plus:

🔹 Data Management & Validation
- Dedicated Categories sheet for consistent dropdowns
- Transactions sheet (Date, Description, Category, Amount)
- Auto-generated Month and Year fields for transactions
- Multi-year tracking with Year selector (2023–2030)
🔹 Automation & Intelligence
- Scenario selector (Best / Base / Worst) with dynamic Budget scaling
- Auto-calculated Scenario-adjusted Budget and % Used columns
- Smart alerts:
≥90% of budget used = yellow
100% = red
Over-budget (Difference < 0) = red
- Rolling 3-month average for Budget and Actual (trend smoothing)
🔹 Analytics & Reporting
- Dashboard sheet with KPI cards and charts:
- Total Budget, Total Actual, Variance, % Used
- Monthly bar chart (Budget vs Actual)
- Line chart (Cumulative performance)
- Summary sheet (pivot-style): Actual totals by category and year
- Pie chart for category shares
🔹 Advanced Integration & Automation (Power User)
- Optional VBA Export-to-PDF macro (ready to paste, provided in Instructions)
- Instructions sheet explaining setup, usage, and automation steps
- Fully modular layout, ready for conversion to .xlsm or integration in a workflow

👉 Purpose: A comprehensive budget monitoring system for professionals, teams, or departments — combining forecasting, variance analysis, and financial insights in one place.

Ideal for year-round control and what-if scenario planning.