Build the estimate
Set up the budget structure and enter the production costs.
Film budgeting for producers
Film Budget
Set the account structure, budget every line item, apply globals and fringes, and issue a clean production estimate.
Every total keeps the calculation behind it, so you can revise the budget as the schedule, rates, crew, equipment, and locations change.
First pass to locked budget
Build the estimate in four passes
Refine the numbers
Adjust quantities, rates, globals, and fringes as the schedule and scope change.
Review the topsheet
Check account totals, department spending, and the overall production cost.
Issue the budget
Lock the estimate and distribute the approved budget.
Top sheet and accounts
See where the money is going
Read the full estimate from the top sheet, then open an account to check the costs behind its total.
Top sheet
Review category totals, fringes, and the estimated cost of production.
Accounts and subaccounts
Build the account structure to the level of detail the production requires.
Line-item detail
Keep each labor, rental, purchase, travel, location, and post cost in its account.
Subtotals
Group related lines and show the cost of each part of the account.
Budget notes
Keep deal terms, allowances, exclusions, and cost details beside the line.
Account rollups
Line items roll into subtotals, accounts, categories, and the top sheet.
Line-item math
Show the calculation behind every cost
Build each line from the figures in the estimate. The result rolls straight into its account and the top sheet.
- Budget labor by hour, day, week, or flat.
- Calculate rentals by quantity, period, and rate.
- Use multipliers for crew, vehicles, rooms, or units.
- Enter negative lines for credits and reductions.
- Apply changes to several selected lines at once.
3300 Grip & Electric$16,750.00
Gaffer10 DAY × $650$6,500.00
Key Grip10 DAY × $600$6,000.00
Lighting Package1 FLAT × $4,250$4,250.00
Globals & Labor Fringes
Keep the estimate in sync
When prep days, shoot days, crew weeks, or other production numbers change, update them once and let the budget recalculate automatically.
- Define shared production values used throughout the budget.
- Revise prep, shoot, travel, or accommodation costs without editing every account.
- Calculate payroll taxes, workers' compensation, union fringes, and labor burdens.
- Control fringe rates and cutoffs.
- Include fringe costs in department totals or on the topsheet.
Globals4
PDPrep Days5
SDShoot Days12
TDTravel Days2
Fringes$4,125.00
FICA7.65%$1,530.00
Payroll5.00%$1,000.00
Budget Revisions
Keep every version of the budget
Revise the estimate throughout prep while preserving every issued budget and working draft.
Start a new revision
Create the next budget revision without changing the previous estimate.
Set the working budget
Choose which revision production is currently working from.
Lock budget
Freeze an approved estimate.
Edit multiple lines
Update quantities, rates, or other values across selected budget lines.
Reuse budget lines
Copy existing costs and insert them where they're needed.
Undo changes
Step backward or forward while refining the estimate.
Distribute budget
Send a clean budget PDF
Set the report format, then distribute the estimate for review.
- Choose Letter, Legal, or A4.
- Use portrait or landscape orientation.
- Set the budget header color.
- Show or hide decimal values.
- Choose the fringe placement.
Budget PDF
Page size, orientation, header color, decimals, and fringe placement.
Know the cost before prep starts.
Build the budget. Refine the numbers. Review the topsheet. Issue the estimate.
Build the Budget