How to Create a Business Budget from Scratch in Excel

We've been asked many times to create a video showing you how to create a business budget. Well, here it is!
This video covers everything you need to know in order to create a budget based on last year's P&L. Hannah walks you through what you need to think about in order to budget for every single line-item in the budget in order for you to come up with the best possible budget for the coming year.
We will do this in Excel, but you can use any spreadsheet software you prefer.
I also mentioned Jirav for budgeting in this video. If you are curious about Jirav and want to schedule a Demo, you can do so here: claracfo.com/jirav
To learn more about CFO services, go to: claracfo.com/cfo-services/
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(As an affiliate or referral partner for these companies, I may earn rewards from qualifying purchases)
Hannah Smolinski is a #CPA and the Founder of Clara CFO Group. Find out more about Clara CFO Group at claracfo.com/
Disclaimer: This video is intended for educational purposes and
should not be taken as legal or tax advice. You should consult with your financial professionals about your unique financial situation before acting on anything discussed in these videos. Clara CFO Group, LLC is providing educational content to help small business owners become more aware of certain issues and topics, but we cannot give blanket advice to a broad audience.
How to Create a Business Budget from Scratch in Excel
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[@GeovannysMusicProd]

This is pretty much what we used at one my previous firms where I worked. Super helpful - Would just need to add in the actual and difference columns, plus departments sections for our imaginary teams lol Great video overall!

[@safeershahid9150]

Thank you for making this tutorial. This tutorial is exceptional please provide excel files so we practice along with the tutorial as well.

[@Tuckeratwork]

This was a great video!! Gained a lot of knowledge on how to predict and estimate revenue and expenses.

[@user-mx4sx4or9p]

Incredible that this info is free. Thank you!!!

[@ClaraCFO]

Glad it was helpful!

[@StephenC612]

A really good overview of the budgeting process! Especially liked the suggestions for how to make estimates for various line items, and the comments about people in the organization who could/should provide input.

[@ClaraCFO]

So glad you found it helpful!

[@dianaphillips3979]

Agreed. I have to prepare a budget from scratch for a small business. This is sooooo helpful! Ihave the information from other managers. Just have to put it together now.

[@user-sv4kk2ew7p]

I got certified QBO Proadvisor 😍🥰
Thanks to all of your content 😋

[@ClaraCFO]

congratulations!

[@SandyH-xe7ms]

Thank you!

[@princesserica718]

Awesome! Very helpful. thank you!

[@ClaraCFO]

Glad it was helpful!

[@marinamanan6070]

This was helpful...😃

[@user-th4fw8uc6y]

Thank you so much for this. Is there any reason why you did not do the taxes? Also, what are the next steps for this? Do you enter real time data as the months progress? What do you do when you have money left..

[@samuellaary7123]

Awesome , please I need the excel file

[@sallygalbudgeting]

Why are the merchant fees so much more in the projected year?

[@ClaraCFO]

Good catch! I caught that myself AFTER I recorded the video! It was a major excel error with a missing 0 in the calculation!

[@sallygalbudgeting]

@@ClaraCFO okay that’s what I thought too! Wasn’t sure if I missed something…thanks for clarifying!

[@amnewt1640]

Any tips for if my Statement of Activity isnt showing any numbers when exported into excel? It brings in all of the different categories but shows zeroes where all of the money should be.

[@amnewt1640]

Oh gosh never mind. I needed to enable editing.

[@ClaraCFO]

Happens all the time!

[@user-it2qh2ff8d]

my company just moved into a new space and state which has much higher rent and insurance etc how should I project these ?

[@VirginieCazol]

Use a rolling forecast