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)	$ $240$	Bus card	$ $68$

Dog sitting	$ $80$	Phone subscription	$ $39.90$

Monthly allowance	$ $50$	Food and snacks	$ $100$

		Clothes and shoes	$ $50$

		Entertainment	$ $35$

		Other	$ $50$

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.

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