Australian Business Budget Template
A free Australian business budget template with budget-versus-actual columns and automatic totals.
- Accounting standard
- AASB (Australian Accounting Standards)
- Financial year
- Financial year commonly 1 July – 30 June (some entities use a different balance date)
- Currency
- AUD (A$)
- Filed with
- ASIC (Form 388)
| Budget | Actual | |
|---|---|---|
| Sales income | A$950,000 | A$950,000 |
| Other income | A$25,000 | A$25,000 |
| Total income | A$975,000 | A$975,000 |
| Salaries and wages | A$330,000 | A$330,000 |
| Rent and premises | A$65,000 | A$65,000 |
| Marketing | A$45,000 | A$45,000 |
| Other overheads | A$130,000 | A$130,000 |
| Net surplus / (deficit) | A$405,000 | A$405,000 |
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How to Fill In a Business Budget Template
A business budget sets out expected income and costs for a coming period so an Australian business owner can plan ahead, decide on spending, and later compare actual results against the plan. Unlike the statutory statements on this page, a budget is an internal management tool rather than something lodged with ASIC — but it draws on the same categories as your profit and loss statement, so the two should read consistently.
This template uses a Budget column alongside an Actual column, so income and cost lines can be planned first and then tracked as the period unfolds, with the net surplus or deficit recalculating automatically in both columns.
What is a business budget?
A business budget is a forward-looking plan of expected income and expenses for a future period, typically a financial year, used to guide spending decisions and set a benchmark that actual performance can later be measured against.
What to include
- Sales income — expected revenue from the business’s core trading activities.
- Other income — any additional expected income outside core sales, such as interest or grants.
- Total income — a subtotal of sales income and other income.
- Salaries and wages — expected staff costs, including on-costs such as superannuation where relevant.
- Rent and premises — expected occupancy costs for business premises.
- Marketing — expected spend on advertising and promotion.
- Other overheads — remaining expected operating costs not separately itemised.
- Net surplus / (deficit) — total income less all budgeted costs, the bottom-line planned result for the period.
Step-by-step guide
- Enter expected sales income and other income in the Budget column, basing figures on last year’s results adjusted for known changes in the year ahead.
- Enter budgeted costs — salaries and wages, rent and premises, marketing and other overheads — under the Budget column so total income and net surplus/deficit calculate automatically.
- Review the budgeted net surplus or deficit and adjust individual cost lines if the planned result does not meet your targets.
- As the period progresses, fill in the Actual column with real income and cost figures from your accounting records.
- Compare Budget against Actual for each line to identify where the business is over or under plan.
- Investigate significant variances — for example, marketing overspend or a shortfall in sales income — and decide whether to adjust spending or revise the remainder of the budget.
- Update the budget periodically (for example quarterly) so it stays a useful planning tool rather than a static document.
- Use the final net surplus/deficit comparison to inform next year’s budget assumptions.
Australia-specific rules
A business budget is a management tool rather than a statutory statement, so there is no AASB standard or ASIC lodgement requirement governing its format — businesses are free to structure it however is most useful internally.
That said, aligning the budget’s income and cost categories to your profit and loss statement (and to the same 1 July–30 June financial year commonly used in Australia, where applicable) makes it far easier to compare budget-to-actual results against your statutory accounts at year-end.