house renovation budget planner app

Residential Improvement Financial Controller

This system provides a centralized framework for tracking renovation expenses, managing contractor estimates, and monitoring cash flow against your total project ceiling. It is designed for homeowners and project managers to maintain fiscal discipline throughout the lifecycle of a construction project.

Update cadence: Daily during active construction; weekly for status reporting.

Column Definitions

• Category: [Text] Defines the trade or area (e.g., HVAC, Electrical, Finishes).
• Item Description: [Text] Specific scope of work or material purchase.
• Status: [Dropdown] Select from: Pending, In Progress, Completed, Cancelled.
• Estimated Cost: [Currency] The initial quote or budget allocation.
• Actual Cost: [Currency] The final invoiced amount paid.
• Variance: [Formula] Calculated difference between estimate and actual.

Core Formulas

Variance Calculation (Cell F2):

=D2-E2

Total Budget Remaining (Summary Cell):

=SUM(D2:D100) - SUM(E2:E100)

Percentage of Budget Spent:

=SUM(E2:E100) / SUM(D2:D100)

Data Validation & Formatting Rules

1. Status Dropdown: Highlight the [Status] column, go to Data > Data Validation > Criteria: List of items > "Pending, In Progress, Completed, Cancelled".
2. Over-Budget Warning: Highlight the [Variance] column, apply Conditional Formatting > Cell is less than 0 > Set fill color to Light Red.
3. Completion Highlighting: Highlight the entire row, apply Conditional Formatting > Custom Formula is =$C2="Completed" > Set text color to Grey and apply Strikethrough.