The Business Budget Handbook
Finance · Nº 79
The Business Budget Handbook
Your Financial Plan for the Year: Sales, Expenses, Profit, and Cash, Tracked Month by Month
Do you already know which month next year your cash will run short?
24 tools, a 12-tab spreadsheet, and one example company budgeted line by line, so you build next year's plan in ten weeks and check it against reality every month.
You get 24 tools to build the year's budget: sales, purchasing, payroll, expenses, a 12-month income statement, and cash month by month. Then you check actuals against it by the 10th of each month. Plus a 12-tab spreadsheet, already filled in with the example.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
You know what you sold last year. What you don't know is what you want to sell next year, how much you can spend, or which month the money gets tight. So the annual raise, the supplier's price increase, and the truck that breaks down all show up as emergencies. And the budget spreadsheet, if there is one, gets opened in January and forgotten by March.
THE SPREADSHEET
Annual budget spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
October, before anyone asks for a raise
You send the ten-week calendar with steps, owners, and dates. Each manager gets a written request for their numbers, and the assumptions sheet makes everyone put a source next to their guess.
The plan shows a profit, but cash goes negative
The 12-month cash budget points to the month you run short. Before you think about a loan, you try moving a purchase, spreading out a payment, or reviewing that month's outflows, and you see the result right there in the spreadsheet.
The 10th of the month
You type in last month's actuals. The report shows budget, actual, and variance for each line with a traffic light. Every large variance gets a cause, an owner, an action, and a deadline, on one page.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order the budget gets built. First, the groundwork: a ten-week calendar, last year cleaned up as a baseline, and written assumptions. Then sales and margin, month by month. Then payroll, fixed expenses with owners, and investments. Then the budgeted income statement and the cash budget, tested on the assumptions that matter most. Finally, the monthly report and the midyear reforecast.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Business Budget Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The annual budget spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 12 tabs, filled in with the example company
- The Template kit: 13 ready-made texts, from the kickoff meeting invitation and the assumptions sheet to the one-page budget and the variance action plan
- 2 worksheets to fill in (assumption and monthly report) and a 30-day plan to build your first draft, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · Before the numbers
- 01What a budget is forThe year's plan written in numbers, and what it isn't: a forecast, a loose target, or a spending cap
- 02The budget calendarTen weeks from October to December, with steps, owners, and dates
- 03The last 12 months as a baselineActuals month by month, cleaned of what won't happen again
- 04Written assumptionsVolume, price, cost, and increases, each with a source and an owner
Part 2 · Part 2 · Sales and margin
- 05The sales budgetVolume times price, line by line, built from your customers and salespeople
- 06The year month by monthSpread the year's sales across 12 months with your own seasonality
- 07Price, volume, and mixSee how much of the growth comes from price increases and how much from selling more
- 08The purchasing and inventory budgetCost of goods and each month's purchases to keep inventory where it should be
- 09Expenses that grow with salesCommission, freight, and fees, per unit and per dollar sold
Part 3 · Part 3 · People, spending, and investments
- 10The payroll budgetHeadcount, annual raise, payroll charges, year-end bonus, and vacation, month by month
- 11Fixed expenses, each with an ownerEvery fixed line with a person responsible, an amount, and an assumption
- 12Sales deductions and taxes on profit in the budgetThe charges that apply where you operate, with the numbers your accountant gives you
- 13The capital budgetTrucks, machinery, and software with a calculated return and a purchase month
Part 4 · Part 4 · Closing the plan
- 14The budgeted income statementAll the pieces in a 12-month income statement, from revenue to profit
- 15The cash budgetReceipts and payments month by month, and the month you run short
- 16The assumptions that matter mostHow much profit changes if price, volume, or cost come in different
- 17Hidden slackThe slack each person builds into their own number, and how to remove it without a fight
- 18Building the budget together and approving itWho takes part, how many drafts, and approval on one page
Part 5 · Part 5 · Tracking the year
- 19The monthly reportBudget, actual, and variance for each line, with a traffic light, by the 10th
- 20Why revenue changedThe revenue variance split into price, volume, and mix
- 21Flexible budgetActual spending compared with the budget for the volume you actually sold
- 22Reforecasting the yearThe year redone with actuals at midyear, without erasing the original budget
- 23Acting on variancesEvery large variance with a cause, an owner, an action, and a deadline
- 24Closing the budget yearHow accurate each line was, and the lessons for next year's budget
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You close the year without knowing how much you'll sell, spend, and earn in the next one
- You've tried a budget spreadsheet before, and it was forgotten by March
- You have managers or partners and want each of them to own a number
- You only find out about November's cash crunch in November
- You have at least a year of numbers and want next year's plan written down
It's not for you if
- Your cash flow and monthly income statement aren't organized yet. Start with The Cash Flow and Profit Handbook
- You want to set the year's strategy, targets, and initiatives. That's The Strategy and Planning Handbook
- You want to cut costs or allocate overhead by product. That's The Cost Management Handbook
- You're opening your business now, with no history. See The Business Plan Handbook
Frequently asked questions
My business is small. Is a budget worth it?
Yes, in a smaller version: sales by month, payroll, fixed expenses, and cash. The month when money gets tight shows up just the same. Tools 06 and 15 are where to start.
Will this work for my kind of business?
The example is a distributor, but every tool shows how it applies to services, retail, manufacturing and distribution, and independent professionals. You need at least a year of numbers to use as your baseline.
Do I need to know accounting?
No, but it's written at an intermediate level, so you should be comfortable reading your monthly numbers. The spreadsheet calculates the income statement and the cash budget from what you enter. For charges that depend on where you operate, the handbook tells you what to ask your accountant.
What if the budget shows a loss?
You go back to the assumptions and the expense lines, one by one, before you inflate the sales number. If the business is already in the red today, start with The Financial Turnaround Handbook.
How much time does this take?
About 2 hours and 24 minutes of reading, or 6 minutes per tool. Building the budget takes ten weeks, with about eight hours of the owner's time. After that, one hour a month for the report and half a day each quarter for the reforecast.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
This handbook solves today's problem. The Series solves the next one, and the one after that, with nothing more to pay.
- 100 handbooks with 2,403 ready-made tools, to read on screen and download as PDFs
- 100 spreadsheets for Excel and Google Sheets
- 6 business areas
- Lifetime access, unlocked once payment is confirmed
One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Finance · Nº 79
Start next year with a number, not a hunch
A budget nobody opens after March is just a spreadsheet. This handbook gives you the tools, the calendar, and a worked example to build a plan your team signs off on, and a monthly routine to check it against what actually happened.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.