Budget Formats & Templates

Industry Templates

Start every budget from a proven structure and in the format the client, funder or studio expects. These articles cover saving your own Workspace Templates so you stop rebuilding the same budget, and free templates in the Splinde Template Gallery for AICP bids, SCoPE GWA and KVA, FFA funding applications, BBC budgets with National Insurance and studio account codes.

They also answer the money questions that come up on almost every job: how much contingency to add and on what base, how to calculate a commercial buyout in Germany, what a film tax rebate actually pays out, and what you owe the crew when a shoot is cancelled.

Budget templates

Every job we do has the same shape. Can I stop rebuilding it?

Yes. Save a finished budget as a Workspace Template with Create Template, then start every job of that kind from it with chapters, lines and AddOns in place.

I retype the same 15 line items into every budget

Keep one budget with your standing positions, save it with Create Template, and every new job opens with those names, rates and units already typed.

A funder or agency wants a standard format. Where do I start?

Open the free Template Gallery on splinde.io: AICP, SCoPE GWA KVA, FFA, BBC, Amazon MGM Studio, HBO, Netflix or Digital Content, and start from the schema.

Industry formats

What is AICP, and will a US agency accept my bid?

Open the free AICP Budget Template from the Splinde Template Gallery and bid in the lettered format US agencies expect, without building the sections yourself.

What is SCoPE, and can Splinde produce a GWA or KVA?

Open the free SCoPE GWA KVA Budget Template from the Template Gallery, or import a SCoPE Excel file, then use the Classic Budget block for the document.

The FFA application came back before anyone read the budget

Open the free FFA Budget Template from the Template Gallery to start a German funding application from the FFA structure, then adapt it.

BBC finance sent it back over National Insurance

Open the free BBC Budget Template from the Template Gallery for numbered account codes and National Insurance built in, then set your own rate per department.

The studio sent it back because the account codes were wrong

Open the free Amazon MGM Studio Budget Template from the Template Gallery to start with a studio chart of accounts, then adjust the codes to your studio.

Money questions

How much contingency, and on what base?

Contingency is a percentage on a figure you choose: a Markup AddOn, or a line whose Fee points at a Section total, including one Section for the whole budget.

How do I calculate a commercial buyout in Germany?

A buyout is a percentage of a fee, not a number of days. Set the line's unit to Percentage, point at the talent Fee, and hold the rate in a Variable.

The headline rebate is 30% and I will not see 30%

Model a film rebate inside the budget as a negative line pointing at the qualifying Sections, with each shortfall between headline and cash as its own line.