You should know that to make a budget, it is not necessary to buy any program or download an application, since in the Microsoft Windows packages, which our PC has, a powerful tool comes: Excel. This will help us create forms to enter data in an easy and practical way.
Budgeting is the first step to a successful future. So your main goal should be to create a very thorough execution plan. Excel will be your best ally, it will make work much easier and more bearable.
It is a very practical tool to use in your job or to manage your home resources in the safest way. Next, we will explain how to use the form controls to create a budget sheet in a few minutes.
Before starting to create your budget, you must follow the following previous steps:
- Check if the “Developer” option is active in the Excel toolbar.
- If you do not have the ¨Developer¨ active, you should: Go to the toolbar, click the right button, press ¨Customize the bar¨, locate the command you have available and activate the ¨Developer¨.
Use forms and create your own budget sheet
From this moment you will be creating your own budget sheet, including marking the cell with a specific color, where it will copy or write the data and thus be able to identify it. Then carefully apply the instructions you will read and you will get the best results:
- Create the database with the parameters you need.
- Make a form by selecting “Developer”. You will have several options to work with the controls of the forms. You will find these boxes: checkboxes, number controls, combo boxes and radio buttons, among other possibilities.
- Once you have defined your table of values, choose the different functions in which the calculations will be performed.
With these steps, you will be able to use the necessary commands to use the combo box tool, which will allow you to locate the data in a smaller space. If you have a business, you will already know that budgets are essential to offer a quality service. What you will read next will be very useful.
Tips for your first budget worksheet prepared with Excel
Thanks to this Office tool we can create a budget sheet calculating and taking the general average with formulas. So carefully consider these steps to create the budget sheet:
- Add up the values or costs. In the cell ¨Total¨, you must enter this formula: = (cell of value 1) + (cell of value 2). For example: = (D14) + (D18).
- Offer discount. This only has two cases: true (percentage discount assigned) or false (total cost). It could be placed in a cell before the partial. The formula that you would have to place in the cell that returns the final total data would be: = YES (assigned cell = TRUE; cell¨x¨-cell¨x¨ * 25%; cell¨x¨).
- For example: = IF (E10 = TRUE; D22-D22 * 25%; D22). With this data, you will calculate the total cost if it is without a discount or the total with a discount.
If you want to add extra information to your form and increase the general data, there is another strategy that you can use to make your budget as wide as possible. You will need this formula: = INDEX (array, row_num, [column_num]).
To use this formula correctly, you will have to write: = INDEX and, inside the parentheses, the matrix, which is where you have all the cells in which you saved the customer database.
To locate the row number, collect all the data you have selected for cell linking. Finally, for the column number, edit the number in which the addresses of your customers are found.
It only remains to repeat the procedure for the telephones and any other information that you want to include in your budget sheet. You are now able to provide a detailed report to your clients with which they can clearly see where they will invest their money.
In addition, you will earn a good reputation and admiration if you consolidate the Excel data from several sheets into one, due to this organization and commitment you will better manage your business. If you are not an Excel expert, don’t despair. With practice and some basic knowledge, you will be able to create the best budget sheets.