Fillable Form Budget Expense Report

What is a Budget Expense Report?

A Budget Expense Report tracks your expenses on a monthly and quarterly basis. It is a form used to record your expenses whether at a business or personal aspect. Many companies create expense reports to monitor if they are spending the right amount of money for everything they need at a specific time frame or if they are exceeding the budget.

For a business, an expense report itemizes expenses that are necessary to the operation of the business. Some employees are asked to submit expense reports so that the company may reimburse them for business-related purchases such as gas, meals, and materials. A business can also use an expense report to track spending for a certain project.

Expense reports are usually made on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis.

How to fill out a Budget Expense Report?

When filling out a budget expense report, you will be provided with the expenses and you will enter how much your actual amount of the expense, then the budget you have for that expense, and the difference between the actual and budget.

Company Name

Enter the name of your company.

INCOME

Income is money that you receive in exchange for providing goods or services and gaining profit. Income is earned through investing money in a certain business and it is used for daily expenditures that help the business operate.

Operating Income

This is a figure that determines the amount of profit gained from the business’s operations. This is determined after deducting operating expenses.

Sales

Enter the amount of sales under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Other

Enter other amounts that are related to the operating income.

Total Operating Income

Compute and enter the total amount of the operating income.

Non-operating Income

Non-operating income is a portion of the business’s income that comes from activities not related to the main operations of the business. It is also referred to as incidental or peripheral income.

Interest Income

Enter the amount of interest income under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Rental Income

Enter the amount of rental income under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Gifts Received

Enter the amount of gifts received under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Total Non-operating Income

Compute and enter the total amount of the non-operating income.

TOTAL INCOME

Compute for the total income under actual, budget, and difference.

EXPENSES

Expenses are the costs that are required to be made in order to generate revenue.

Operating Expenses

These are the expenses that are related to the main operation of the business in order to gain profit.

Advertising

Enter the amount of the expenses for advertising under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Depreciation

Enter the amount of the expenses for depreciation under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Dues and Subscriptions

Enter the amount of the expenses for dues and subscriptions under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Insurance

Enter the amount of the expenses for insurance under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Interest Expense

Enter the amount of the expenses for interest under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Maintenance and Repairs

Enter the amount of the expenses for maintenance and repairs under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Office Supplies

Enter the amount of the expenses for office supplies under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Salaries and Wages

Enter the amount of the expenses for salaries and wages under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Taxes and Licenses

Enter the amount of the expenses for taxes and licenses under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Utilities

Enter the amount of the expenses for utilities under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Other

Enter the amount for other expenses under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Total Operating Expenses

Enter the total amount of the operating expenses under actual, budget, and the difference.

Non-recurring Expenses

These are expenses that are rarely made and the business does not expect to continue over time. Non-recurring expenses are also called one-time expenses.

Furniture, Equipment, and Software

Enter the amount of the expenses for furniture, equipment, and software under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Gifts Given

Enter the amount of the expenses for gifts given under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Other

Enter the amount of the expenses for other non-recurring expenses under actual, budget, and compute for the difference of the two amounts.

Total Non-recurring Expenses

Enter the total amount of non-recurring expenses under actual, budget, and the difference.

TOTAL EXPENSES

Compute for the total amount of all the expenses under actual, budget, and difference.

Net Income before taxes

Compute for the net income generated before taxes. You can compute the net income by using this formula:

TOTAL REVENUE - COSTS OF GOODS SOLD - OPERATING EXPENSES = NET INCOME BEFORE TAX

Income Tax Expense

Compute the income tax expense by multiplying taxable income by the effective tax rate.

Net Income

Compute the net income.

Frequently Asked Questions About a Budget Expense Report

What is the importance of a budget expense report?

Budgeting allows you to create a spending plan for your money. Having a well-constructed budget expense report gives you a physical representation of how much money you can use for a certain expense. Following a budget helps you get out of debt and allows you to have sufficient money for a specific time frame. Creating a budget expense report also helps you focus on your financial goals, it represents how much money you can spend for a certain expense, and therefore keeps you on top of your finances.

Here are the benefits of creating a budget expense report:

• Helps you get out of debt.
• Helps you save money.
• Keeps track of your spending and thus leads to less unnecessary spending.
• Allows you to plan for future purchases and expenses (for example, a new car).
• Gives you more financial freedom and flexibility by helping you prioritize certain expenses like vacations or a new car.
• Helps you figure out what expenses can be reduced for you to save money.

What are the purposes of creating a budget expense report?

• Creating a budget expense report helps you keep track of your budget for a specific period.
• An expense report also allows you to determine whether you have extra money to spend for yourself or if you need to cut off certain expenses to ensure that you have enough money for your primary needs.
• A complete budget expense report helps you remember where you spent your money, how much you spent on something, and how much you have left.

What is an expense report used for?

• Small businesses usually need to submit expense reports when their employees pay for business expenses out of their own pockets.
• The employees’ expense reports will organize and keep track of their business-related expenses so that the company can reimburse them. Along with the expense report, the employees must attach the receipts of their purchases. After submitting the expense report and the receipts of the purchases, the owner can now review the report and reimburse the employees for the total amount.
• A business owner can also use expense reports to review their expenses over a specific time frame. The time frame is usually a month, quarter, or year. The owner can determine if the total expenses were more or less than expected.

What is considered an expense?

• An expense is money a company or an individual spends to maintain the operation of the business or a making a trade that may result in a profit.
• Common expenses include payments to suppliers, salary or wages of employees, factory leases, and equipment depreciation.
• Amounts deducted from earnings such as loan payments or bad debts are also considered expenses.

What are the guidelines when making a budget expense report?

Even though creating a budget expense report is easy, it is still important that you follow certain guidelines in order to make your budget more accurate and comprehensive:

1. Be sure to start with a zero-based budget – this means that you have to start with noting down all the money you have. Calculate how much you're bringing in during a certain period of time, whether it's per month or per year.
2. Be sure to include all your income sources – this would include regular jobs that are paid weekly, biweekly, monthly or yearly as well as various forms of income like dividends, interests, inheritances, or rental properties.
3. Include all your expenses – this means everything you spend money on throughout the period of time you are tracking/budgeting. Be sure to include necessary expenses that might not be paid monthly or yearly but are absolutely required for certain periods of time (for example, property taxes, car insurance).
4. Subtract your expenses from your income - this is the main step of creating a budget expense report. If you are left with negative numbers, you should consider finding ways to reduce some of your expenses or getting another source of income. You can also put yourself on a strict allowance that would allow you to only have a certain amount of money every month regardless of how much you are bringing in.

Subtracting your expenses from your income will allow you to see the difference between the total amount that needs to be spent for necessary expenses and regular spending. For example, if your monthly net income is $1000 after taxes, minus the average monthly expenses of $400, you should have $600 extra for expenses. It is important to make sure that your monthly spending does not go over the amount you have left after subtracting the necessary expenses as this will leave you with no money for emergencies or unexpected costs.

Creating a budget expense report can be an excellent way to keep track of your income and expenses. Be sure to note down all your expenses and assign a specific time frame in order for it to be more accurate. It might take a little while to make the initial calculations but once you have done this, you will find budgeting easier with each coming month. Following these simple guidelines can allow you to see where your money is going and if there are any expenses that can be reduced.

What is a monthly expense report?

A monthly expense report indicates all the purchases a company makes during a month, and these purchases must be business-related. This means that all the personal expenses are filtered out, and only company-related purchases remain. Moreover, this report must be labeled as ‘Business Expenses’ and it can also include the travel expenses as well as the eating and drinking costs. The expenses are classified into three categories:

1. Expenditure done for an individual business process,
2. Cost incurred on company resources, i.e., supplies and other items required to carry out the activities of the business; and
3. The indirect costs or overheads that can be directly attributed to a particular function or department.

Such an expense report for each month is then sent to the Accounts Department, which calculates the expenses incurred by a business during that particular month. The department also provides information about these expenses to various stakeholders in an organization, such as auditors or investors.

This monthly expense report helps in determining the costs involved. However, to find out whether these expenses are productive or not, an expense report must be prepared every year after considering all the company purchases for that year. This annual expenditure report can include not only business-related purchases done during a particular year but also other indirect costs that need to be considered for productive purposes.

What is a yearly expense report?

A yearly expense report is used to write off a business’s taxes. While a monthly report is used for different purposes, a yearly report is used mainly for tax purposes. It reports the purchases during a specific year.

The yearly report expenses are typically recorded in the bookkeeping system at the end of a year. This process is also known as closing the books for accounting purposes. The main motive behind this is to have an accurate financial statement prepared for tax purposes, which includes all of the information necessary to produce a complete income statement and balance sheet.

The yearly report expenses are then added to the total income of that year. Let’s say a company has made $80,000 in revenues by selling its products and the annual cost of those goods is set at $60,000. In such a case, it can be said that this company will have an expense report of $20,000 for this year.

The yearly report expenses are the items that will be taxed by the government. This means that they will reduce the amount of profit made during a fiscal year down to taxable income. The expenses added to these taxes will then be used as deductions from other sources of income.

What is a budget expenditure report?

A budget expenditure report is a document that vouches for the legitimacy of expenses incurred by a business. It is particularly relevant in cases where taxpayers need to justify their claims and it is important that such an expenditure report should include all relevant information about how money was spent. It acts as a guarantee that there will be no problems in the future if audits are carried out.

How Does a Budget Expenditures Report Help You?

An expenditure report can help with:

Identifying overcharges and unusual costs; Identifying any productivity loss in relation to expenditures (i.e., how much of your budget was consumed by inefficiencies);

Identifying whether or not all expenditures are justified. This can be done by analyzing what kind of expenses are being made, how frequently they occur, the amounts that are being spent, etc.; Establishing a system of accountability when it comes to expenditure management; Determining if there has been an increase in spending and if so, why; and Determining the effectiveness of a business process.

Moreover, expenditure reports are useful for making comparisons between different years, to identify any trends.

What is included in an expense budget?

An expense budget is a breakdown of all expenditures you intend to make within a specific period, usually over one month. It acts as a reference for determining where your money went. It keeps track of your income and expenses, which is helpful because it lets you know how much you can spend or save for the month.

The expense budget spreadsheet should include all your intended expenditures (both recurring and nonrecurring) like transport, food, clothing, rent, taxes, electricity bills, groceries, telephone bills, school fees, etc. This helps create control over your expenses and minimizes wasteful spending.

Here is a list of all the parts of an expense budget:

• Income

This part of your expense budget shows your monthly income from all sources - salary, allowances, business gains, interest, rent from investment properties, and so on. It is advisable to save a portion of this money for the month. If you don't have a regular monthly income, list down all your expected sums for the month.

• Expenses

This is where your budget plan gets a little more detailed. Here you list down all the expenses that you have each meal, day, and week of the month. The sheet should also have space for clothing, transportation, rent or mortgage payment, utilities, etc. List them down one by one so as to give an idea of how much you are spending on each item. You can include all expenses or only the ones that exceed a certain amount (like above $100) in this section of your expense sheet.

• Budget Breakdown

This part is very important--it helps you assess where your money is going and what items need to be changed in your budget. It should contain a list of all items listed in the 'Expenses' section and should be broken down according to days, weeks, months, or even years. To give you an example: If you spend $200 on groceries every month then that expense should be written down as $100 for every week (a total of 4 weeks in a month). Doing this helps you see where your money is going.

• Total Expenses

This part shows the total expenses after adding all costs in the 'Expenses' section together. It then deducts that amount from your income to give you an idea of how much more or less you have for savings, charity, etc.

• Strategies to lower expenses

This part contains strategies that can be put in place to lower your expenses and save money. These include: doing without a driver, taking public transportation instead of cabs, using less electricity, buying groceries during sales season, etc. Keeping track of your expenditures and the amount you spend on certain items can help you develop strategies to cut your expenses.

How do you prepare a budget report?

Here are the steps to prepare a budget report:

1. Determine your budgeting period — The one-year period of time that you want to review and prepare a report on. In most cases, it is a calendar year, but depending on the purpose of the report it might be a fiscal year or some other time frame.

2. Determine your time frame — How many months you want to review for a full year or a quarter of a year report. In the case of a part-year report, only the months that were reported on are considered, while in a full-year report all months of the year are considered.

3. Determine the type of finance — Now consider what kind of business or entity you operate and choose how to classify expenses and revenues:

• Corporate — If your work is corporate in nature, then you can use a standard chart of accounts including income and expenses categories.
• Non-profit — If your work is non-profit, then you can use a standard chart of accounts including income and expenses categories.
• Small business or sole proprietor — Many small businesses use multiple charts of accounts depending on the nature of their operations, structure, or size (for example, you can classify some expenses as deductible and others as not).

4. Determine your final report format — Whether you would like to prepare a simple profit & loss statement or an income statement with all the necessary footnotes. You can also consider preparing both of them if your business is complex enough to require it. If the purpose of the report is to meet a certain legal requirement, then you would have to follow it accordingly.

5. Prepare your "as-of" date — Usually, this is the last day of your budgeting period, but if you consider preparing a part-year report, then it will be the last day of the month that you are reviewing for.

6. Prepare your budget — Now that you know the period of time to review and all other necessary details, you can prepare a simple list of income and expenses for this period so that you will be able to classify them appropriately in case you decide to prepare either a P&L statement or an I/S with footnotes as explained above.

7. Classify your budget items — When you prepare your budget, remember to classify each item in the appropriate income or expense account according to the chosen chart of accounts. It is also necessary to consider depreciation expenses (if applicable) and "other" items that are not part of this standard chart of accounts (for example, bad debt expenses, interest income, and other non-operating items).

8. Prepare your analysis — After you classify all items and prepare a simple report, consider comparing it with last year's (or the period prior to this one) using percentages and other analysis methods depending on the nature of your business (for example, comparisons between quarters or months).

9. Review your budget — Now that you have income and expense accounts, consider reviewing the total of each category for this period.

Why do we need expense reports?

Expense reports are needed for the following situations:

• To get reimbursed for the money you spent while traveling on business.
• To get reimbursed for the expenses of a company event. For example, if you go out for dinner with co-workers to discuss a project, you need an expense report so your employer can pay back your portion of the restaurant bill. In some cases, you may be required to submit itemized receipts for reimbursements in excess of a certain amount.
• To prove that your company receives an official receipt when making an expense report. A signed or stamped receipt can help verify the information included in the report. This is particularly important when traveling outside of the U.S. Overseas forms are sometimes required to prove the authenticity of a receipt.
• To document any personal expenses you paid using your company credit card. The receipts can keep track of how much money is spent on personal charges and will reduce the chance you are overcharged for expenses by mistake.
• To show that an expense has been reported or approved, if different people are responsible for submitting and approving the report.
• To provide proof that you did not make a purchase. For example, if your credit card is used fraudulently to make unauthorized purchases, you could show the receipts from when the card was in your possession to prove there were no additional charges.

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