Free Budget Proposal Templates

By Andy Marker | August 5, 2021

We’ve compiled the most useful free budget proposal templates for organizations, project managers, grant writers, researchers, team members, and other stakeholders. You’ll also find helpful details for filling out these templates. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a sample proposal budget template, a project proposal budget template, a grant proposal budget template, and a budget increase proposal template.

Budget Proposal Template

Budget Proposal Template

Download Budget Proposal Template

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets | Adobe PDF

Use this universal budget proposal template to account for all the necessary resources in your organization’s operations or individual projects. Fill in proposed line-item amounts for staff salaries, benefits, equipment, professional services, memberships, occupancy expenses, and travel costs. This customizable template is the perfect tool to define any expenses an organization or project might incur, and to propose allocation of those resources.

Sample Proposal Budget Template

Sample Budget Proposal Template

Download Sample Proposal Budget Template

Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Sheets | Google Docs

Take the guesswork out of creating a budget proposal with this sample proposal budget template, which comes with pre-filled example data. The template includes editable, auto-tallying sections to list details of your organization’s salaries, benefits, professional services, rent, telephone, internet services, and equipment costs. The pre-built line-item amounts help provide an accurate budget proposal to estimate your total funding requirements.

Project Proposal Budget Template

Project Budget Proposal Template

Download Project Proposal Budget Template

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets

A project proposal budget helps you to stay on top of your individual and interrelated budgets, so that all stakeholders have the correct financial details on hand. Use the unique budget planning capabilities of this template to get the big picture of proposed project-by-project budgets. This template focuses on ensuring that your proposed budget calculations (including specific tasks and subtasks) accurately account for material, labor, and fixed costs. Use the template to monitor the difference between your proposed and actual budget amounts. 

Read our project proposal templates article to find additional templates and learn more about getting the most out of your project proposals.

Sample Project Proposal Budget Template

 

Sample Project Proposal Budget Template

Download Sample Project Proposal Budget Template 

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets

Use this project proposal budget template to guide project sponsors and other stakeholders through the financial details of your project. The template includes sample project proposal budget data with task-by-task budget specifics, which you can use to compare your projects’ proposed budget figures against actual budgeting, to arrive at a precise under/over balance. This pre-populated budget proposal template includes item-by-item proposed costs and balance tallies to ensure you plan an adequate, project-specific budget proposal.

Annual Budget Proposal Template

Annual Budget Proposal Template

Download Annual Budget Proposal Template 

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets

Keep accurate tabs on your proposed budget vs. actual funding with this easy-to-fill, 12-month annual budget proposal template. Enter anticipated revenue, cost of goods sold (COGS), sales and marketing costs, labor costs, admin and general expenses, and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). Factor in anticipated cash, accounts receivable, inventory, and long-term debt to gain quarterly and annual insight into your organization’s proposed, time-sensitive budget.

Research Proposal Budget Template

Research Proposal Budget Template

Download Research Proposal Budget Template 

Microsoft Excel  | Google Sheets | Adobe PDF 

An itemized list of expected budget costs is one of the most valuable documents that you can provide to key stakeholders in order to clinch funding for your research. Document individual salaries and wages, potential travel costs, supplies, equipment, and other costs to create a credible picture of what the research expenditures will entail. Expedite the process of obtaining funding with this research proposal budget template, which includes a line-by-line breakdown of proposed expenses, and how they affect your potentially available financing.

Grant Proposal Budget Template

Download Grant Proposal Budget Template 

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets  

Use this comprehensive grant proposal budget template to ensure you’ve accounted for every item in the proposal. Enter unique funding revenue ID numbers and itemized budget details, and the template will automatically calculate proposed budget totals. Year-by-year columns provide a long-term picture of your grant funding requests, and also allow you to track various contributors’ endowments. 

To learn more about the importance of winning bids with budget proposals, read our article on free grant proposal templates, as well as our roundup of free bid proposal templates.

Budget Increase Proposal Template

Budget Increase Proposal Template

Download Budget Increase Proposal Template

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets

Quantify a suggested budget increase with this unique template that compares your current budget to the proposed increased budget, in order to arrive at accurate over/under amounts. Enter line-by-line costs (tasks and subtasks) and the template will automatically calculate a subtotal, as well as a proposed budget amount increase. This template also provides ample space to include details about multiple projects, as well as materials, labor, and fixed costs. 

To learn more about business budget templates, see our collection of free business budget templates for any company. For more annual business budget templates, please refer to this article. We also offer a great variety of business templates for small businesses, startups, nonprofit organizations, as well as operating budget templates, that can be used across all industries.

Why You Need a Budget Proposal Template

A budget proposal template documents the suggested financial budget plan for an organization, project, research, or grant. Rather than starting from scratch, you can leverage the pre-filled criteria in a budget proposal template to gain insight into the accuracy of anticipated expenses and revenue sources. 

A budget proposal template offers visibility into your organization’s or project’s projected financial picture. Templates provide an easy-to-use list of projected expenditures and expected revenue, so that you can compare any difference in your budgeted and actual amounts. You can also enter projected budget amounts for line items, such as planned salaries, equipment, professional services, occupancy, telephone, internet, and travel expenses. 

While budget proposal templates are useful for anticipating expenses and revenue, you can also assess a budget’s feasibility by comparing budgeted with actual amounts. This information can help you recalibrate a budget proposal to align with actual costs and revenue for a more accurate budget.

Tips for Using a Budget Proposal Template

When filling out a budget proposal template, ensure that you account for an organization’s or project’s proposed expenditures. Most budget proposal templates include the following pre-populated sections: 

  • Salaries: This amount appears as a line-by-line account of anticipated labor-related expenses (e.g., salaries, bonuses, benefits, insurance, etc.). 
  • Equipment Costs: This section refers to projected equipment expenditures, such as computers, a server, a website, a copier, etc. 
  • Professional Services: Include any anticipated professional services (e.g., legal, payroll, insurance, training, bookkeeping, etc.) in this section.
  • Professional Memberships: Use this field to enter employees’ membership costs for any professional organizations, associations, or societies. 
  • Office Space: Enter any planned occupancy costs (e.g., rent, electricity, water, internet, security, office supplies, etc.) for your organization. 
  • Telephone/Internet: This template section covers detailed costs for cell phone, landline, and internet service.  
  • Travel: Use this section to enter any travel-related costs (e.g., lodging, meals, transportation, etc.) as well as any employer-financed transit expenses.  
  • Sales and Marketing Costs: Include any sales or marketing-related expenses to promote your organization or project. 

A budget template helps take the guesswork out of operational costs compared to available resources, so that you are able to justify your anticipated expenditures, whether for a specific project or the organization at large. It’s important to remember to enter one-time costs in a budget proposal. Additional expenditures, such as seasonal costs and promotional events, can also make an impact, so be sure to account for those in your budget. While you may have unique budget proposal items, templates are customizable, and allow you to enter tailored budget line-items to fit your needs.

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