Free film budget template for Excel
A complete production budget in one Excel file: 39 areas and 335 cost lines in the account numbering production accountants know, from development and cast to post-production and insurance. Every line multiplies quantity by rate, every area adds up, and contingency is a percentage you can change. Amounts start empty.
No sign-up, no email address, no watermark. Opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.
What is in the template
Two sheets. The first holds every cost line; the second totals each area and shows its share of the budget. Both are driven by formulas, so the summary at the top of the file updates as you type.
- Above the line: development, story and rights; producers; direction; cast; travel and living for the above the line team.
- Production: production staff, extra talent, art department, construction, set dressing, property, picture vehicles and animals, special effects, tests, stages and offices, camera, grips, electrical, wardrobe, make-up and hair, sound and video, transportation, locations and travel, digital media and stock, additional hours, second unit and special units.
- Post-production: editing, music, post-production sound, film and lab, visual effects and delivery.
- Other: publicity, insurance, general expenses, completion bond and titles.
- Contingency as a percentage at the bottom, set to 10% and yours to change.
Each line has a code, a description, a remarks column, quantity, unit, price per unit and a total. Area headers are highlighted, and the numbering (1100 for development, 2000 for production staff, 5500 for editing and so on) matches the layout used across the industry.
How to use it
- Fill in quantity, unit and rate for the lines you need. The line total and the area totals follow.
- Delete what does not apply. A documentary rarely needs construction; a commercial rarely needs a completion bond. Remove the lines, keep the area, and the formulas keep working.
- Add lines within an area by copying an existing row. The formula comes along.
- Set the contingency at the bottom. Most productions carry between 5 and 10%; how much contingency a production needs explains what it is for and who gets to release it.
- Save a copy per version. When the schedule changes, compare the old and the new file in the budget comparison tool and see exactly what moved.
Prefer to work online?
Budget Builder
The same structure in your browser: pick cost types from a list per area, keep versions, import an existing budget and download Excel, CSV or PDF. Nothing is uploaded.
Budget comparison
Load two versions of a budget and see what changed per line, per area and in total, with charts and filters.
How to build a film production budget
The topsheet, the chart of accounts, above and below the line, fringes and contingency, and the mistakes that cost money later.
Questions about the template
Is this the Movie Magic Budgeting layout?
The areas and account numbers follow the layout that Movie Magic Budgeting users know, from 1100 for development to 9500 for titles, so a budget built in this file reads like one that came out of Movie Magic. It is an independent Excel file: nothing in it needs Movie Magic, and Movie Magic Budgeting is a product of Entertainment Partners, not of Tubes.
Which currency does it use?
None is set. Type amounts in whatever currency you budget in, and add the currency to the header row if you share the file. The number format shows two decimals with thousands separators, which Excel adapts to your regional settings.
Can I add, remove or rename lines?
Yes, it is a normal spreadsheet. Copy a row to add a line within an area (the formula comes along), delete the rows you do not need, and rename anything. If you add a whole new area, copy the highlighted header row and check that the area's range on the Summary by Category sheet includes the new lines.
Where are fringes and payroll costs?
The template does not calculate fringes separately, because the rates differ per country, union and contract. Add them as a line in the area they belong to, or as a percentage row at the bottom next to contingency: copy the contingency row and change the label and the percentage.
Is it free for commercial use?
Yes. Use it on your productions, change it, share it with your team and your financiers. We only ask that you do not sell it as your own.
What is the difference with the Budget Builder?
The Budget Builder uses the same structure but runs in your browser: you pick cost types from a list per area, keep up to ten versions, import an existing budget from Excel or CSV and download the result as Excel, CSV or PDF. The template is that same result as a plain Excel file, for people who would rather work in a spreadsheet from the start.
Does Tubes see my budget?
No. The download is a static file. Nothing is uploaded, we do not ask for an email address, and what you do with the file afterwards stays on your computer. See the privacy statement for what the site does record.
When the budget has to stay alive after day one
A template gets you to a first number. Tubes keeps the budget, the schedule, the purchase orders and the actual costs in one place, so the estimate for completion is always current.