Video production budget templates
Commercial production budget template
A two-day commercial costed line by line: crew, equipment, location, art department, cast, post and music. Download the spreadsheet and put in your rates, or open the sample quote to see what the client gets.
Free, no sign-up. Works in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.
What goes into a commercial budget
- Pre-production
- Producer days to plan and book, a storyboard, casting and location scouting. Scouting days are easy to forget and almost always needed.
- Crew
- Every role by days on set: director, DoP, 1st AC, gaffer with lighting technicians, sound, set manager and runners. If heads of department prep, add their prep days as separate lines.
- Equipment
- Camera, lenses, lighting, grip and sound per shoot day. Rental houses often price a week as three or four days; put in what you actually pay.
- Location and art
- Location fees per day, a production designer, the set build and dressing, props, wardrobe and a stylist. The art department is where commercial budgets most often overrun.
- Cast
- Actors by day and extras by head count. Usage buyouts depend on media, territory and period, so agree them before you quote.
- Post-production
- Offline edit days, online, colour grade, sound mix and every reformat the media plan needs: 15s, 6s, 9:16, 1:1.
- Licensing
- Music and stock. Price them once you know the media and the territory, not before.
The sample at a glance
Two shoot days, an 11-person crew, two actors and six extras, a built set, five edit days and four reformats. With the sample rates it comes to €45,430.20 net.
| Category | Net |
|---|---|
| Pre-production | €4,000 |
| Film crew | €9,700 |
| Equipment | €3,600 |
| Location costs | €3,000 |
| Hair & makeup | €900 |
| Set design / props / costumes | €6,400 |
| Actors / extras | €4,100 |
| Logistics | €760 |
| Catering | €1,500 |
| Production costs | €33,960 |
| Post-production | €5,750 |
| Other costs | €1,500 |
| Subtotal | €41,210 |
| Production fee, 10% of production costs | €3,396 |
| Insurance, 2% of subtotal | €824.20 |
| Total, net | €45,430.20 |
Rates in the samples are illustrative, not market rates. Replace them with your own.
Common mistakes when quoting a commercial
- Quoting shoot days only. Heads of department need prep and the production manager needs a wrap day.
- One number for post. Split edit, grade, mix and reformats, because the agency will ask for more cutdowns.
- Leaving usage open. Media, territory and period change the price of cast and music; write them into the terms.
- Not deciding what the fee applies to. If you pass music or talent through at cost, say so in the quote.
How the numbers work
Every line is quantity × days × rate
Quantity is people or units, days are shoot or work days. Leave quantity empty and it counts as one, so a flat fee is just a rate.
Production costs sit above the line
Everything you produce yourself: planning, crew, equipment, location, art, cast, logistics and catering. Post-production and licensing sit below it.
The production fee is calculated on production costs
Here 10%. Many producers pass post and licences through without a fee, or charge for them separately. If you work differently, move the line.
Insurance is calculated on the subtotal
Here 2% of all categories. Check what your policy actually requires per job.
Questions
How much does a 30-second commercial cost to produce?
Length matters far less than days, crew, location and cast. The sample here, two shoot days with an 11-person crew and two actors, comes to €45,430.20 with sample rates, which are illustrative, not market rates. Put your rates in the spreadsheet to get your number.
Should the production fee apply to post-production?
Practices differ. In this template the fee is calculated on production costs, and post and licensing sit below the line. If you charge it on the total, move the line; in Vidaset you choose per quote.
Can I use this template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open the .xlsx in Google Sheets, Excel or Numbers. The formulas are plain multiplications and sums, and the yellow cells are the ones you fill in.
Turn the budget into a quote
In Vidaset your rates fill in on every new quote, the fee and insurance calculate themselves, and the client gets a PDF in your brand colors with price options, deliverables and terms. Every new account gets 30 days of Pro, no card required.