Art Budget Spreadsheet

One of the aspects of teaching art that isn't always fun is budgeting. Other subjects have to plan their budgets as well, but the art budget is big, complicated, and can be frustrating. There's nothing worse than running out of paint of paper mid-year and having to go over budget, believe me I used to do it all the time at KidSpirit until I had more experience. Plus other teachers sometimes need to use your supplies for projects and aren't always great about letting you know in advance, "Oh you needed paint for a poster and used all the expensive acrylics for it? That's great but I actually had tempera for that..." You get the idea. Staying organized can make your life a little easier when it comes to budgeting and one way to do that is to use a spread sheet to keep track of what your budget is, what you ordered, and how much money you have left. Some people are great at Excel spread sheets and don't need any help in this area. If you're one of those people then rock on with your geeky self and create a spread sheet so organized and detailed it'd make my OCD heart proud. If you do need some help or even just direction in creating a spread sheet I'm here to help.

I had to make a spread sheet project for my computers class last term and decided to create an art budget spread sheet to help keep me organized and on budget when I have my own class. The spread sheet has an itemized budget section where you type in how much each supply cost, then a totals and percentage section where you can see the total monetary amount you've spent on that category of supply and also the percentage of the budget that is devoted to it. For example, I can type in the amount I spent on acrylics, tempera, and watercolors and see how much money I've spent on paint in total and what percentage of the budget goes toward paint. I've included both the actual spread sheet itself which you can use just as it is, but I've also included instructions on how to make it yourself on Excel, step by step. I think it's a good idea to look at the instructions because if you ever want to change something about the spread sheet, or make it more personalized you'll know exactly how. Happy budgeting!

Art Budget Spread Sheet

Instructions for Excel Spread Sheet

Peace!