Your budget worksheet
type | category | amount | frequency | actual/estimate | source (optional)
Use a Housing category for rent or mortgage. Put one-off costs in the forecast.
Enter the change, not new rent. A negative value reduces Housing costs.
| Type | Category | Original amount | Frequency | Basis / source | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| income | Net pay | $2,000.00 | fortnightly | actual | $4,333.33 |
| expense | Housing | $500.00 | weekly | actual | $2,166.67 |
| expense | Utilities | $300.00 | quarterly | estimate | $100.00 |
| expense | Groceries | $150.00 | weekly | estimate | $650.00 |
| expense | Insurance | $1,000.00 | annual | actual | $83.33 |
Optional surplus envelopes
One name and percentage per line. For example, Reserve|40.
| Envelope | Allocation | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| No allocations entered | 0% | $0 |
Dated cash forecast
| Date | Net movement | Closing cash |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Oct 2026 | -$700.00 | $300.00 |
| 3 Oct 2026 | -$400.00 | -$100.00 |
| 5 Oct 2026 | $2,000.00 | $1,900.00 |
| Period start | Period end | Opening cash | Receipts | Payments | Closing cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 2026 | 31 Oct 2026 | $1,000.00 | $2,000.00 | $1,100.00 | $1,900.00 |
Build the Income and Expense Schedule
Enter each receipt or expense with its payment frequency. Mark figures taken from records as actual and forward-looking allowances as estimates. Use category labels that match the household or represented person’s costs.
Wages, benefits and investment income can sit beside housing, food, transport and care expenses. Keep the source documents with your schedule. Category totals help prepare a financial statement or an administration account, but this worksheet is not a court form.
Moneysmart’s budget planner supplies a broader household checklist. Use the court’s Financial Statement Kit for its required fields.
The category selector chooses the blank spreadsheet’s starting labels. Household includes wages and living costs. Couple separates each partner’s income and personal costs. Retirement includes pension, super withdrawals and care costs.
Business separates customer receipts, wages, suppliers and tax payments. Represented person includes income, care and administration costs. Edit labels to match your records. Selecting categories leaves your entered figures unchanged.
Optional envelopes allocate a percentage of the original positive surplus. Enter your own names and percentages, totalling no more than 100%. A shortfall allocates zero. These labels record your allocation, without prescribing a spending rule or financial product.
One line per entry: income or expense | category | amount | frequency | actual or estimate | optional source reference. Frequencies: weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or annual.
Switch Between Weekly and Monthly Budgets
The planner uses 52 weeks, 26 fortnights or 12 months per year. Quarterly amounts recur four times and annual amounts once. It totals annual figures before dividing by the chosen period.
In the example, $2,000 fortnightly becomes $52,000 yearly or $4,333 monthly. Expenses total $36,000 yearly, leaving $1,333 per month. The yearly view shows $16,000 left after expenses. A $100 monthly bill is $23.08 weekly, not $25.
Annual insurance spreads across every period in the budget. Its full payment still leaves your account on one date. Enter that payment in the forecast to see the cash pressure when it falls due.
Read a Shortfall and Cash Runway
Housing cost as a percentage of income is the Housing category total divided by income, on the same annual basis, multiplied by 100. Select Rent or Mortgage to label the comparison. Select Net or Gross to describe the income you enter. The planner does not convert gross income into take-home pay. Include tax and other deductions as expense rows when budgeting from gross income.
The example’s $500 weekly rent is 50% of $2,000 fortnightly net income. The same mortgage repayment gives the same ratio. With zero income, the ratio is undefined.
No single rent or mortgage percentage decides affordability. Compare the money left with actual living costs, debt repayments and irregular bills. For a post-separation budget, retain the original figures and test the proposed housing change. A low ratio can still leave a shortfall when other costs are high.
The housing scenario adds your weekly change to the original costs and preserves both results. In the example, increasing weekly housing from $500 to $900 creates a $400 monthly shortfall.
A $2,000 available balance then covers five monthly periods if that shortfall continues evenly. A balanced or positive cash flow has no finite depletion estimate. A negative opening cash balance has already run out.
Export and Reuse the Budget Template
Download budget CSV for an editable spreadsheet with original entries, weekly, fortnightly, monthly and annual columns, source references and both scenarios. Print budget opens a simple income-and-outgoings sheet with your figures and assumptions. Choose your browser’s Save as PDF destination for a printable copy. Download blank budget CSV keeps the chosen category labels with empty amount columns for reuse.
Save on this device keeps both worksheets in this browser. Load saved worksheet restores that copy. Delete saved worksheet removes the saved copy without changing the open worksheet. Download files before switching devices.
Open the CSV in Excel or import it into Google Sheets. Copy its column headings and rows into a Notion table if you use one. These are file transfers, with no account connection or synchronisation.
Entries stay on your device. Saving stores this worksheet in this browser until you delete it or clear browser data. Other users of this browser can access it. The worksheet does not connect to bank accounts.
Forecast Cash and Compare Scenarios
Business mode labels the forecast as an entity cash schedule. Keep that entity’s receipts and payments separate from the household budget. The export retains the selected mode, periods, entered movements, source references and actual or estimate labels.
The dated forecast starts from your opening cash and applies entered movements through the end date. It identifies the first daily closing balance below your reserve and below zero.
In the forecast example, $1,000 falls to $300 after rent and then to -$100 after groceries. A later $2,000 receipt restores the balance to $1,900. The earlier gap still needs funding.
Use one currency throughout. Convert foreign amounts separately and keep the conversion basis with your records. Change the forecast dates or amounts to test timing assumptions, then export each version before replacing it.
The period table shows opening cash, gross receipts, payments and closing cash for every selected period, including periods with no movements. Weekly and fortnightly periods begin on the opening date. Monthly and annual periods end at calendar boundaries. The first and last periods can be partial.
Download forecast CSV opens as an editable business financial forecast template or personal cash schedule in a spreadsheet. Download blank forecast CSV retains the period layout with empty amounts. It is a cash forecast without linked profit-and-loss or balance-sheet calculations.
Enter forecast rows as YYYY-MM-DD | description | signed amount | source | actual or estimate. Receipts are positive and payments negative. The last two fields are optional. An omitted basis is treated as an estimate.
This is a separate cash schedule. Enter every receipt and expense on its expected date, including recurring payments and one-off costs. Budget rows are not added automatically.
The forecast tests daily closing balances and the opening balance. A same-day receipt can offset an expense even if it arrives later that day. Expected receipts remain assumptions.