A simple monthly budget for a small business

1. Set up your month in 15 minutes

This is a cash budget: a plan for money entering and leaving your business. Record each amount in the month the payment will happen. If a client pays next month for work delivered today, that receipt belongs in next month's budget.

1. Open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Excel and name it for the month and year.
2. Add up the business money available in your bank accounts and cash drawer at the start of the month. Keep personal funds separate.
3. List customer payments you reasonably expect to collect, including their due dates. Leave unconfirmed sales out of the core budget.
4. List bills and other payments due this month. Use one currency throughout the sheet.

Either tool can handle this template. It does not connect to your bank or check whether an entry is correct. You will need to enter transactions and compare them with your records.

2. Copy the budget template

Paste the following block into cell A1. Tabs separate the columns. The planned amounts are an illustrative small-shop budget, not recommended spending levels. Replace them with your own figures in your chosen currency. Update the zeros in the Actual column as payments happen.

Item Planned Actual Opening cash 1200 0 Customer payments received 4500 0 Owner funds added 0 0 Loan proceeds received 0 0 Total cash available =B2+B3+B4+B5 =C2+C3+C4+C5 Rent 600 0 Stock and materials purchased 1500 0 Payroll and contractor payments 900 0 Advertising 250 0 Delivery 180 0 Utilities and internet 100 0 Software subscriptions 50 0 Taxes and mandatory payments due this month 0 0 Loan repayments and interest 0 0 Owner withdrawals 400 0 Other payments 100 0 Total cash paid out =B7+B8+B9+B10+B11+B12+B13+B14+B15+B16+B17 =C7+C8+C9+C10+C11+C12+C13+C14+C15+C16+C17 Closing cash =B6-B18 =C6-C18

• The example leaves 1520 in planned closing cash. The result changes when you replace the inputs.
• Zeros for taxes and loans are placeholders. Enter the amounts actually due for your business this month.
• Transfers between your own business accounts are not new receipts or spending. Avoid counting the same money twice.
• If you add a row, update the total formula so it includes the new amount.

3. Turn the numbers into a weekly decision

1. Choose a weekly review day. Update Actual with the cumulative receipts and payments since the start of the month.
2. Keep the original plan intact. Flag any category running over budget and write a short explanation beside it.
3. Check the dates of receipts and bills for the next seven days. A positive month-end balance does not guarantee enough cash for a bill due tomorrow.
4. Choose one action: follow up an overdue invoice, cancel an unused subscription or postpone a nonessential purchase.
5. At month-end, compare closing cash with the money in your business accounts and cash drawer. Investigate missing or duplicate entries.

Suppose a small shop budgets 250 for advertising and has already spent 320 halfway through the month. That is 70 over the monthly plan. Before buying another campaign, check the orders it generated and the supplier bills coming due.

Go further with the AI Builders community

For real examples, peer feedback and discussion, visit the Azerbaijani AI Builders community's resources page at https://abcommunity.org/resurslar. After trying the budget, remove sensitive details and share your result with the community. Bring one practical question, such as how other owners track irregular costs.