Open a budget and choose Build budget (or Continue building on a budget you started earlier). The editor follows a fixed order of steps. An administrator can adjust the steps under Settings, but the standard process is:

  1. Details: name, client, project type, episodes and the other budget details.
  2. Plan: the production planning behind the budget, such as shoot days and phases. Rates and quantities of many lines follow from this.
  3. Budget: the budget lines themselves.
  4. Additional: overhead, handling, contingency and other additional cost lines, plus discounts and fees. See Additional costs, discounts and fees.
  5. Text: the quotation text that goes with the budget when you send it to a client.

Add budget lines

On the Budget step you have three options:

  • Build from template populates the budget with your standard production structure. Then adjust quantities and prices.
  • Add items adds line items from your item library. Each item gets a cost type, a quantity and a unit price.
  • Add a blank line and fill it in by hand.

Lines are grouped under headers. Every budget header is also an activity in the planning later on, so name headers the way you would plan them: "Shoot week 1", "Edit", "Sound mix".

Quantities, units and rates

A line is quantity times unit price. Units such as days, weeks or episodes can be tied to the production planning, so that a change on the Plan step flows through to the lines that depend on it. Formulas can refer to shared variables, called Globals, that you define once for the whole budget (for example the number of shoot days or an hourly rate).

Sales prices

Each line has a budget price (your cost) and a sales price (what the client pays). Set a margin percentage per line or per group, or enter sales prices directly. The Sales total and the Margin update as you go.

Currencies

A line can be in another currency than the budget. The FX rate comes from the project; you can lock the rate on a line so it no longer updates from the project.

Save your work

Give the version a name and choose Save version to snapshot the budget. See Save, restore and lock budget versions.

Tip: The totals at the top update instantly as you add or change line items. Budget is your cost total; Sales is what you charge the client.