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Project Budget Plan vs Actual — Excel Template

Track planned and actual income and costs by month, see variances in amount and %, cumulative totals and a forecast at completion, with overruns highlighted and charts.

Project Budget Plan vs Actual — Excel Template
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Blank template + filled-in example · Excel 2007+, LibreOffice, Google Sheets

What it's for

A project budget rarely matches reality, and it's important to spot overspending before it grows. You enter plan and actual figures by month, and the spreadsheet shows the variance for every line and month, highlights overruns, calculates cumulative totals and forecasts what the project will cost by the end if the current pace continues.

What's inside

  • “Settings”: name, first month, duration up to 24 months, variance tolerance, forecast method.
  • “Plan” and “Actual”: up to 10 income lines and 20 cost lines by month; line names are entered only once.
  • “Plan vs Actual”: plan and actual to date, variance in amount and %, plan used, forecast at completion and status for each line.
  • “Variances”: the difference between actual and plan by line and month, with red and green highlighting.
  • “Cumulative” and “Summary”: running totals, project result, largest overruns and plan vs actual charts.

Who it's for

Project and department managers, entrepreneurs launching a business, organisers of events, renovations and construction, and anyone who keeps a project budget in Excel and wants to see where spending has gone over plan.

Compatibility

Excel 2007 and later, LibreOffice. No macros. Rates and thresholds are kept in the settings so you can adjust them. Calculations are approximate. The file is in English.

Questions and answers

How is the variance calculated?
Variance equals actual minus plan. For costs, a plus means overspending and is highlighted red; for income, a minus means a shortfall. The tolerance within which a variance is considered normal is set in the settings.
How is the forecast at completion calculated?
There are two methods to choose from. “Plan burn rate” continues the current ratio of actual to plan and suits one-off lines. “Average actual per month” continues average spending and suits regular lines such as rent. The forecast is approximate.
Why is the variance calculated “to date” rather than for the whole project?
If you compare actuals for part of the project with the plan for the whole project, every line looks like a saving. So the plan is taken for the same months that have actuals, and the plan for the whole project is shown separately.
How many months does the spreadsheet cover?
Up to 24 months, 10 income lines and 20 cost lines. The duration is set in the settings; extra months turn grey and are excluded from calculations.