Top 5 FREE Excel Event Budget Template of 2024 (+How To Create One)

A lot of things need to be considered when planning an event. From location to hospitality, everything needs the utmost attention.

Budget is, without any doubt, one of the most critical factors in hosting an event.

Meanwhile, we all know that without proper tools, successfully launching an event is a dream.

However, spreadsheet programs like Excel are your ultimate companion in this case.

They help you easily track all event expenses, income, and estimates in one place. The best part is that there are numerous Excel templates available on the internet, which can be downloaded for free and used to make your job easier.

In this article, we explore the top 5 FREE Excel Event Budget template.

Why are Event Budget Templates created in Excel a must-try?

Excel is a powerful desktop-based spreadsheet tool used to organize day-to-day activities and boost productivity. It can do anything that requires complex calculations, advanced analysis, state-of-the-art presentation, and more.

Ease of Use: Excel is a user-friendly application that doesn’t require any special skills to get started. By using simple Excel functions (like addition and subtraction), you can track expenses and income with ease.
Automated Calculations: One of the greatest advantages of using Excel is its ability to automate calculations. Whether it be a birthday party, wedding, get-together, or corporate event, you can use over 400+ mathematical and statistical functions to take your event management to the next level.
Cost-effective: Excel is a budget-friendly alternative to standalone event management platforms. It is available on almost all computers and laptops as part of a Microsoft subscription.
Extensive Customization: From changing the font styles to adjusting the cell background colors, everything is possible without much effort. You can also use advanced formatting tools like conditional formatting to update the file dynamically based on the inputs provided.

One can access Excel from both desktops and smartphones as long as there is an active internet connection.

Overall, Excel is worth trying for event management.

Top 5 Event Budget Excel Template of 2024

In this section, we will go through the best-in-class Event budget templates designed to help users streamline their finances.

Note that there are many Event budget templates available online. But we understand that you can’t download and test each one of them. So, we have compiled a list of 5 FREE Excel Event Budget templates.

Now, without any further ado, let’s begin.

1. Event Budget (Expense & Income) Template by Software Accountant

Download FREE Excel Event Budget Template

Click Here To Use This Template!

Are you an Event manager looking for an intuitive and professional-looking template to keep track of your expenses?

Have a look at this one by SoftwareAccountant. It is a fully automated template empowered with built-in functions.

The template includes many standard components related to event budgeting. It is a fully customizable template that allows you to easily remove or add additional components based on your event’s uniqueness.

There are three separate sheets in this template:

Expenses – This sheet allows you to list all your event expenses. You can include details like venue, decorations, catering, and marketing, making it easy to get started quickly.
Income – Here, you can record all revenue sources, such as event admissions, advertising, vendor fees, and other forms of income generated during the event.
Dashboard – This sheet provides a visual summary of your event’s expenses and income. It displays a side-by-side comparison of estimated and actual figures using bar graphs, giving you an instant overview of your event’s financial performance.

Both the Expenses and Income sheets contain tables for each relevant category. Note that the template is configured with formulas that automatically calculate totals at the end of each table.

To ensure the template functions correctly, avoid editing any cells containing formulas.

2. Event Budget Template by Microsoft

Click Here To Use This Template!

This event budget template can be downloaded from the Microsoft template library. It aims to provide a structured way to track both estimated and actual expenses for an event.

The template is pretty straightforward. You only need to enter the values, and the template will give you the summary of the estimated and actual budget.

It contains three main sheets:

Expenses: In this sheet, you can enter the amount spent on different categories. The template will give you an overview of the actual vs estimated costs.
Income: This sheet tracks the revenue generated from the event. It includes separate sections for ticket sales and sponsorship.
Profit-Loss Summary: Here, you can Compare the total income and expenses to calculate the profit or loss from the event.

It is all you need to successfully plan an event budget. Feel free to customize the template by adding more rows and columns according to your requirements.

3. Hybrid Event Budget Template by Fliplet

Click Here To Use This Template!

In this fast-paced digital era, the nature of events has shifted to what we call hybrid events. These take place in both physical and virtual ways.

The above hybrid event budget template is designed to track the budget for both in-person and virtual aspects of an event. The main goal is to allow event organizers to manage their budgets effectively across both.

It has separate tables to record various costs.

For the in-person event, it includes expenses like venue costs, catering, equipment rental, and staff wages. It also covers additional costs like decorations, travel, and security.
For the virtual side of the event, you can record costs for platforms, subscription fees, and technical support. It also tracks digital expenses such as online marketing, social media ads, and event apps.

Note that this template is automated with many built-in formulas that calculate the totals at the bottom. Do not edit the cells containing the formulas; otherwise, the template will not work as expected.

4. Party Budget Template by Smartsheet

Click Here To Use This Template!

Are you planning a party?

Events like a party include a lot of unnecessary expenses if not organized properly.

Here, we have a template that lets the organizers save money, and everyone enjoys the party.

Start at the top by entering the basic details of the party, like the name, location, date, etc. You will notice a massive table on the far right side. It lets you specify the money spent on various categories:

Venue
Decor
Food/beverages
Entertainment
Event documentation
Guest Services
Invitations

The best thing about this template is that you can have a quick look at the summary of the expenses, which will auto-populate once the table is filled out. Thanks to Excel’s built-in functions, which do all the calculations for you.

You can also visualize the amount invested in various categories. This unique template can fulfill all your needs for organizing a party in one place.

5. Event Budget Template by Vertex42

Click Here To Use This Template!

Last but not least, this event budget template can be used for almost every type of event. In addition to day-to-day events, you can track seminars, scout camps, and complex events like racing.

At the top of the template, you can find a quick overview of the expenses, income, and final balance. The template also includes a bullet chart to let you quickly compare estimated and actual expenses and income.

Note that the totals are determined automatically using the built-in formulas. If you have accidentally edited any of the cells holding the formula, press “Ctrl + Z” on your keyboard to revoke the changes.

How to Create an Event Budget Template from Scratch in Excel

The above templates are a perfect fit in most cases. However, if you did not find one that fulfills your event needs, let us create a fully customized event budget template from scratch.

Here is the image of the template we will be creating.

STEP #1 – Create the Header

Let’s start with the header. It is an essential part of every template, enabling users to input details such as the event name and logo.

Let’s begin,

Open a new Excel spreadsheet
Select the first row
Increase the height of the selected row
Select all the cells from “A1” to “F1”
Hover to the main menu and go to the “Home” tab
Click on “Merge & Center” in the “Alignment” group
Type “Event Name“
Increase the font size to 20
Make the font bold
Change the font alignment to the middle
Change the cell background color to green (Hex Code – #00ac46)
Change the font color to white

Here’s how our header looks after following the above steps,

STEP #2 – Create Expense Category Tables

In this step, we will create a table to record the event venue expenses. You can follow the same process to include other expense categories, such as catering and promotion.

Here are the steps:

Select the cell “A3”
Type “Venue“
Select the cell “A4”
Enter “Venue Rental“
In the cell “A5”, type “Venue Staff”
Complete the table as shown below
In the cell “B3”, type “Details”
Select the cell “C3”, and enter “Estimated($)”
Complete the column headers as shown below
At the end of the expense, we will have to add a row to find the subtotal. For that, select the “A11” and type “Subtotal”
Make the font bold

Our expense table is ready. You can repeat the steps to include more expense categories.

Follow the same steps to add two more expense categories: Catering and promotion. Refer to the following image,

STEP #3 – Automate Calculations using Built-in Functions

Now that we have created a table, it is time to automate the template by using the built-in functions.

Here are the steps:

Double-click on the cell “C11”
Type “=SUM”
Select the first option from the popup
Provide the cell reference as “C4:C10“
End the formula with a closing parenthesis “)“
Press “Enter” on your keyboard

The formula should look like the following,

=SUM(C4:C10)

To apply the same formula to the rest of the cells of the Subtotal row, follow the steps below,

Select the cell “C11”
Hover to the lower-rightmost corner of the cell, and you will see a “+” symbol known as the Fill Handle
Click on it and drag it till the cell “E11”

STEP #4 – Calculate Overall Event Budget

In this step, we will add all the expenses to find the budget required to launch an event.

But first, we need to add a table called “Total Budget.”

Here are the steps:

In the cell “A25” and enter “Total Budget”
Make the font bold
Double-click on the cell “A26”
Type “Estimated”
In the cell “A27” and enter “Actual”

This is how the newly created table will look,

To calculate the estimated and actual budget, follow the steps below,

Select the cell “D26”
Type “=SUM”
Choose the first option from the popup or press the “Tab” key
In place of the value1 argument, enter the cell reference representing the Expected expense subtotal for the first category
(Here, the cell “C11” contains the subtotal of the Venue category)
Press “,” to move to the next argument of the SUM function
Replace the value2 argument with the cell reference representing the expected expenses subtotal of the next category
(Here, the cell “C18” includes the subtotal for the second expense category)
Press “,” to move to the next argument of the SUM function
Replace the value3 argument with the cell reference representing the expected expenses subtotal of the third category, which is the cell “C23”
Complete the formula with a closing parenthesis “)“
Press the “Enter” on your keyboard