Budget a project and track its costs
On this page
A project's Money section answers what the job is worth, what it was meant to cost, what it has cost so far and what is left. Its figures are shown only to people who can see money. Anyone else sees only the expenses they logged themselves.
The numbers at the top
| Figure | What it is |
|---|---|
| Contract value | What the client agreed to pay, raised by signed change orders |
| Budgeted cost | The total of your budget lines |
| Budget price | Budgeted cost plus fees |
| Actual cost | Approved expenses, crew, rentals, talent, purchase orders, mileage and team time |
| Committed | Open purchase orders not yet received or paid |
| Projected margin | Contract value less budgeted cost |
| Profit on cash collected | Collected so far less actual cost |
Build the budget
On the project's Money page, go to Budget. Add lines by category, each with a quantity, unit and rate, and a note. Add a percent line for things that are a share of the rest, like Payroll taxes and fringes, Contingency or a Production fee.
Or start from a template:
- Commercial (AICP style): pre-production, shooting crew, talent, equipment, location, travel and post, with fringes, insurance, contingency and a production fee.
- Corporate video: a small crew, an interview kit, an edit, contingency and a production fee.
- Event coverage: camera and sound on the day, travel and the edit.
- The signed proposal: the lines the client is paying for, at the price they were sold. Change each rate to what it will cost you.
- Your template: any budget you saved with Save this budget as a template.
Add its lines adds to what is there, and Replace the budget starts over. A template never changes an invoice.
Budget against actual
Each line and category shows Budget, Actual and Remaining. Money spent in a category with no budget line still shows, so nothing hides.
What the actual cost is made of lists every source: approved expenses, crew invoices, crew booked and not invoiced yet, equipment rentals, talent fees, purchase orders, mileage and team time at cost. Crew count at their booked rate until their invoice for the job is approved, then at the invoice.
If one purchase shows up twice, for example an expense for a rental that also has a purchase order, link the expense to its purchase order and it counts once.
The cost report
With Books in double-entry, the project also has a cost report: each budget line with its actual, committed, your own estimate to complete, the estimated final cost and the variance. It adds one line with the books' view of the job, and says why the two can differ.
What it does not do
The budget is your plan. It sends nothing to the client and changes no invoice. The figures help you run the job. They are not an audited account.
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