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The Project Cost and Budget Tracker, a project cost spreadsheet for Excel and Google Sheets. A dashboard shows the total budget, committed, invoiced, paid and the forecast at completion, with a watch list and charts by category. Tabs: Start Here, Dashboard, Budget, Commitments, Bills and Payments, Change Orders, Vendors.

Project Cost Tracker Excel Template with Change Orders

The budget is rarely the problem. The problem is the money you have already promised to contractors and suppliers, the invoices still to arrive and the change orders nobody has priced yet. The Project Cost and Budget Tracker follows the money in four steps: budgeted, committed, invoiced and paid.

From those figures it works out a forecast at completion for every budget line and shows how far it is from your budget. Change orders can be funded from a contingency reserve, by raising the budget, or flagged as not funded, so you see the effect before you approve them.

It is a digital download for Excel and Google Sheets, made for freelancers, small businesses, makers and project owners who run one project at a time with outside costs.

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Digital download. Works in Excel and Google Sheets. Nothing is shipped.

What this spreadsheet tracks

Up to 40 budget lines, each with original budget, changes, revised budget and a status
Up to 150 commitments (contracts and purchase orders) with the vendor, current value, invoiced and not yet invoiced
Up to 300 invoices with paid to date, balance and a status: Paid, Partly paid, Unpaid or Overdue
Up to 100 change orders, Pending, Approved or Rejected, funded by the reserve, a budget increase or not funded
What you still owe each vendor, for up to 40 vendors
A dashboard with 8 tiles, a watch list, charts by category and the lines running over budget

Who it's for

Freelancers and small businesses that run projects with outside costs
Anyone who signs contracts or places orders and wants to see the likely cost before the invoices arrive
Project owners who need to see committed, invoiced and paid side by side

How it works

Fill in Start Here and add your vendors.
Enter the budget lines and the contingency reserve on the Budget tab.
Add contracts on Commitments, invoices on Bills & Payments and changes on Change Orders.
Read the Dashboard and update it as invoices and payments arrive.

See it in action

See inside

Budget tab: one row per budget line with category, original budget, budget changes, revised budget, committed, invoiced, paid, other costs expected and the forecast at completion. Each line shows over or under budget and a status: Over budget, Watch, On budget or Not forecast yet. The first row is the contingency reserve.

Commitments tab: one row per contract or purchase order with reference, vendor, budget line, value, status and approved change orders. It shows the current value, what is invoiced and paid, what is not yet invoiced, the forecast cost and a flag when the invoices are above the commitment.

Dashboard with 8 tiles (total budget, committed, invoiced, paid, forecast at completion, over or under budget, reserve left, pending change orders), a watch list, two charts by category, lines running over budget, change orders waiting for approval, a category summary and a plain sentence on where the project stands.

Change Orders tab: each change has an amount, the commitment or budget line it changes, a status (Pending, Approved or Rejected) and Funded by: Budget increase, Reserve or Not funded. Only approved change orders count. A change that is not funded raises a clear note and an alert on the Dashboard.

Bills and Payments tab: one row per invoice, linked to a commitment, or to a vendor and a budget line when there is none. Type the paid to date and the sheet calculates the balance, the due date status (Paid, Partly paid, Unpaid or Overdue) and checks duplicate invoice numbers.

Vendors tab: for every vendor the committed, invoiced and paid amounts, the open invoices, what is not yet invoiced and what you still have to pay, with a data check for each vendor. Up to 40 vendors, picked from a list on every contract and bill.

The 7 tabs of the Project Cost and Budget Tracker (Start Here, Dashboard, Budget, Commitments, Bills and Payments, Change Orders, Vendors) and what is included: a blank Excel workbook, an Excel file with a sample project, a PDF Quick Start Guide and a Google Sheets Make a copy link. No macros.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work in Excel and Google Sheets?

Yes. You get an Excel workbook and a PDF guide with a link to make your own copy in Google Sheets. The two versions are separate files and do not sync.

Is it an accounting system?

No. It is a project cost tracking spreadsheet. It does not post to a ledger, calculate tax or connect to accounting software.

Can I track more than one project?

One project per file, in one currency, with amounts before tax. Make a copy of the file for each additional project.

Does it handle credit notes or retainage?

Not as separate items. Enter an invoice net of any credit note. Paid to date is a running total, not a list of single payments.

Is there an example file?

Yes. A second Excel file is filled with example data (12 commitments, 13 bills and 8 change orders), so you can see how everything works before using your own numbers.

The Project Cost & Budget Tracker is also one of the four tools in the Project Toolkit Bundle.