Track a production budget
The Budget tool tracks what your production is spending, by category, with the total updating as you go. This guide covers setting up a budget and keeping it current.
You'll need a project. Any project will do.
In this guide
Open the Budget tool
Select Budget in the project sidebar. It opens as a set of categories with a running total, ready for you to fill in.
Set up your categories
Create the categories that match your production: camera and lenses, lighting and grip, cast and crew, locations, post and delivery. The categories are how the budget reads at a glance.
Add line items
Under each category, add the individual costs with an estimated amount. Be specific enough that a number means something when you come back to it in a week.
Log actual costs against estimates
As money is committed and spent, record the actual figure next to the estimate. The gap between the two is the real picture of where the production stands.
Update actuals little and often. A budget that is current is one you can make decisions from; one you update once is just a guess.
Read the totals
Each category totals on its own, and the project totals across all of them. The number updates the moment you change a line, so it is never out of date.
Export the budget
Export the budget as a clean PDF to send to a producer or a financier. What goes out is a snapshot of the figures exactly as they stand when you export.