budget program to track expenses
ccameron333
5 years ago
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fear of the unknown - trying to keep track of budget
Comments (9)Like everyone else, I've got a rather elaborate spreadsheet going. We are building cost plus, the first column is the original estimate by our GC. The second column is "Probable". This holds the actual number when we pay a bill or my best estimate as we move forward. For instance, I know that we want more than the bid number of paint colors in the house, so I've adjusted the original quote up. I know that we adjusted where different floor coverings were going, so the "Probable" column holds the updated numbers. The grand total of this column is where I believe the final cost will be. The third column is the difference between the two first columns so I can readily see where we have money to spare and where we have gone over budget. The next column tracks my "Estimated Out Of Pocket" expenses. These are things we are paying for as we go instead of taking a draw from the bank. The next two columns are our "Paid Out Of Pocket" expenses and "Remaining Out Of Pocket Expenses". This ensures we have enough money in our "House Fund" to "finish" the project. From there, I have a column for each Draw from the bank and then "Total Expended" and "Final Difference" column. The supporting numbers for the probably columns lie off in many other pages on the spreadsheet devoted to lots of different items like plumbing fixtures, flooring, lights, cabinetry, windows, door hardware, etc. Basically, our life is on this spreadsheet, but it is extremely helpful and at least lets me feel like I have a little bit of control on the purse strings. Like others have said, communication with your GC is the most important part. Each month, when a draw request comes in, I make sure I understand what each item is and if I can expect any more invoices from the subs in that area. For instance, this month, we paid for our hardwood floors. The bill was REALLY low, but upon speaking with our GC, the invoice was for 75% of the total amount, the rest to be billed after the floors were site finished. This put the number back in line with my estimates and made the spreadsheet God's happy....See Moreconstruction budget software
Comments (8)An Excel spreadsheet is far better because accounting programs are designed for other uses like business and project management involving time records, overhead, etc. and you would be trying to modify a professional program. If you only want to track costs and invoices in categories appropriate for you project and compare them to a budget, that should take an hour to design and in the end you would be able to understand it and modify it. This is such a common use for a spreadsheet that Excel provides pre-designed templates in the startup window. There are categories of templates and a button for Online Templates that you can download. In the Online "Budgets" try "Budgets" then "Business Budgets" then "Expense Budget" or "Monthly budget plan and analysis". You will have to change the categories and you might want to add columns for phases of the project and total those numbers to the "Actual" column. Or you can just google "cost tracking spreadsheet" and open some links or, better yet, choose the "images for" option and just look at the hundreds available. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/expense-budget-spreadsheet-TC001061833.aspx Here is a link that might be useful: example of budget tracking template...See MoreAny recommendations for a budgeting program?
Comments (5)I looked at mint.com and registered with a username and a password, the next step was registering my bank card, number and password with them, they say their site is as secure as a bank site, but I'll investigate mint.com a little further before I relinquish my info. There must be user reviews somewhere on the web....See MoreQuestion About Condo Finances (Budget,Reserves,Expenses,etc.)
Comments (12)I don't know for sure, but the Reserves fund seems rather low for the size of the overall budget. The deficit is more than half of the entire reserve fund. In my area the association is required to have a reserve fund that is equal to a certain percentage of the overall budget. The other thing you will want to know is the percentage of owner occupied vs. absentee landlord rental units. I lived in an association that was chronically underfunded and in the 17 years I owned there, I paid about $10,000 in special assessments. Some people had to take out second mortgages to pay their assesments. One very large unit had about $20,000 in assessments. If you are not paying into a reserve fund you could suddenly be asked to cough up X amount of money if something needs to be replaced. In my building the entire air conditioning system failed to the tune of $250K or something. Another association had to do a window replacement program, and the special assessments in that associate went all the way up to $40,000 in some unit. That was enough for a number of owners to go into mortgage default. If I buy into a condo association ever again, it will be one that is very financially sound, large enough that individual unit owners don't take a huge hit if there is an unexpected expense, and new enough that some major systems failure isn't on the horizon....See Moreccameron333
5 years agoUser
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoccameron333
5 years agonewkitchenny55
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