Monthly operating budget template for small businesses
An operating budget template plans revenue and expenses month by month for a fiscal year, line by line against your chart of accounts. This free Excel and CSV file has two revenue lines, cost of sales, nine expense lines, gross profit and operating profit for each month of 2027, with annual totals.
How the template is laid out
Each row is one budget line with the account code it maps to, twelve monthly amounts and an annual total. Subtotal rows (total revenue, gross profit, total operating expenses and operating profit) have no account code, so you can filter them out when loading the lines elsewhere.
The sample is a small trading company with 2027 product sales of 595,000 and a 55% cost of sales ratio. Sales are seasonal, with a strong fourth quarter; salaries rise in July; marketing follows the sales peaks; audit and legal fees land in March and December.
How to build each line
Budget the drivers, not just the totals. A few rules keep the plan realistic:
- Start from the sales budget: units times price per month, using last year's seasonality. The master budget starts here for a reason.
- Tie cost of sales to sales with your gross margin, so a change in sales moves it automatically.
- Budget fixed costs (rent, insurance, subscriptions, depreciation) at their contract amounts and timing.
- Put irregular costs in the month they fall due, such as annual audit fees, rather than spreading them evenly.
- Check the result with the break-even calculator: if planned sales sit close to break-even, the plan has little room for error.
Budget vs actual
A budget earns its keep when you compare it with actual results each month. Positive variances on revenue and negative variances on expenses are favourable; investigate the large ones and note whether they are timing differences or real changes. When volume differs a lot from plan, a flexible budget separates the effect of selling more or less from spending differences.
Budgets in Ledgeriano
In Ledgeriano a budget belongs to a fiscal year and holds an amount per month for each account, cost center and project. You can spread an annual amount evenly or seasonally, copy last year's actuals with a growth percentage, keep scenarios as drafts, approve one default budget per year and see budget vs actual with favourable and unfavourable variances by statement section, account, cost center, project and month. The management accounting guide walks through the full master budget.
Preview
The first rows of the downloadable sheet.
| Account code | Budget line | Jan 2027 | Feb 2027 | Mar 2027 | Apr 2027 | May 2027 | Jun 2027 | Jul 2027 | Aug 2027 | Sep 2027 | Oct 2027 | Nov 2027 | Dec 2027 | Total 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4101 | Sales of goods | 42,000 | 40,000 | 46,000 | 48,000 | 50,000 | 47,000 | 44,000 | 43,000 | 52,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 68,000 | 595,000 |
| 4102 | Revenue from services | 8,000 | 8,000 | 8,500 | 8,500 | 9,000 | 9,000 | 9,000 | 9,000 | 9,500 | 9,500 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 108,000 |
| Total revenue | 50,000 | 48,000 | 54,500 | 56,500 | 59,000 | 56,000 | 53,000 | 52,000 | 61,500 | 64,500 | 70,000 | 78,000 | 703,000 | |
| 5101 | Cost of goods sold | 23,100 | 22,000 | 25,300 | 26,400 | 27,500 | 25,850 | 24,200 | 23,650 | 28,600 | 30,250 | 33,000 | 37,400 | 327,250 |
| Gross profit | 26,900 | 26,000 | 29,200 | 30,100 | 31,500 | 30,150 | 28,800 | 28,350 | 32,900 | 34,250 | 37,000 | 40,600 | 375,750 | |
| 6201 | Salaries and wages | 18,000 | 18,000 | 18,000 | 18,000 | 18,000 | 18,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 222,000 |
| 6205 | Rent expense | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 72,000 |
| 6206 | Utilities | 1,400 | 1,400 | 1,200 | 1,000 | 900 | 1,100 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,200 | 1,400 | 14,200 |
| 6102 | Advertising and marketing | 2,500 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 3,500 | 3,500 | 4,500 | 5,000 | 36,500 |
| 6214 | Software subscriptions and IT services | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 900 | 10,800 |
| 6207 | Insurance expense | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 700 | 8,400 |
| 6208 | Professional fees (audit, legal, consulting) | 500 | 500 | 2,500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 3,000 | 10,500 |
| 6210 | Telephone and communication | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 4,800 |
| 6301 | Depreciation of property, plant and equipment | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 18,000 |
| Total operating expenses | 31,900 | 31,900 | 34,200 | 32,000 | 31,900 | 31,100 | 32,300 | 32,300 | 33,500 | 33,500 | 34,700 | 37,900 | 397,200 |
Download the template
Free, no signup. The Excel file keeps account codes as text so leading digits survive.
How to fill in the operating budget template
- 1
Set the year and accounts
Change the month headers to your fiscal year and the account codes to your chart of accounts.
- 2
Budget sales
Enter monthly sales from expected volume and prices, following last year's seasonality.
- 3
Derive cost of sales
Apply your expected cost of sales ratio to each month's sales.
- 4
Add operating expenses
Enter fixed costs at contract amounts and irregular costs in the month they fall due.
- 5
Review the totals
Check monthly operating profit, the annual total and the cash timing before approving the budget.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an operating budget and a cash budget?
An operating budget plans revenue and expenses on the accrual basis, which gives budgeted profit. A cash budget plans receipts and payments by month, including loan repayments and asset purchases, which shows whether you will run short of cash.
Should a budget be monthly or annual?
Build it monthly. An annual figure hides seasonality, and monthly amounts let you compare budget with actual results while there is still time to react.
How do I budget for a new business with no history?
Start from capacity and market evidence: how many customers you can reach and serve each month, at what price, and what it costs to deliver. Then budget fixed costs from quotes and contracts, and test the plan against break-even.
Can I add departments or projects?
Yes. Add a cost center or project column and repeat the lines per department. In accounting software the same budget can be kept per account, cost center and project.
Related pages
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Skip the spreadsheet
In Ledgeriano you install a chart of accounts when you open a fiscal year, post balanced entries against it and get the trial balance, statements and budget variances without copying anything between files.