Bathroom remodel budget spreadsheet in Excel: how much is really left

A bathroom budget that only subtracts committed quotes from the total overstates what is free to spend. This $22,000 example shows $3,500 apparently left and $200 actually left once a 15% contingency is held back.

General information only, not financial, construction or legal advice. Contingency, holdback and payment-split percentages are your own inputs, and payment and deposit rules vary by contract and by state or province; check yours. Figures cited from other sources are dated where they appear.

Why "total minus committed" overstates what is free

On a bathroom remodel, the number that misleads is the total budget minus the quotes you have accepted. It tells you what is uncommitted, not what is free to spend once you have decided to hold part of the total back as a contingency pool. In the example below, $22,000 less $18,500 committed looks like $3,500 left, but with a 15% pool held back the figure is $200. The 15% is this example's own input, not a recommendation.

The example: six lines, $22,000 total

The line budgets here add to $18,700, which is the $22,000 total less the $3,300 pool. That is a choice made for this example. Every line is committed at or under its own Budget.

Now the two readings side by side:

The $200 is 0.9% of the total (rounded to one decimal). It matches the Remaining column: $100 on the vanity line plus $100 on the carpentry line.

The formulas

A layout to rebuild: inputs in B1 to B3, headers in row 5 (A Line ID, B Item, C Budget, D Committed, E Remaining, F Overrun), lines in rows 6 to 11.

B1  Total budget          22000
B2  Contingency %         15%          (your input)
B3  Contingency pool      =B1*B2                      3,300

E6  Remaining             =C6-D6
F6  Overrun               =MAX(0, D6-C6)

Committed                 =SUM(D6:D11)                18,500
Looks like left           =B1-SUM(D6:D11)             3,500
Left after the pool       =B1-B3-SUM(D6:D11)          200
Contingency used          =SUM(F6:F11)                0
Contingency left          =B3-SUM(F6:F11)             3,300

Lines not committed       =COUNTIFS(D6:D11,0)+COUNTIFS(D6:D11,"")   0
Line budgets tie out      =B1-B3-SUM(C6:C11)          0
Percent typed right       =IF(B2>1,"Type 15% not 15","OK")

Contingency used here is the sum of the amounts by which a line is committed above its own Budget. Nothing is over, so it is 0. If Left after the pool turns negative, your commitments have gone past the non-pool part of the budget and are eating into the pool. The sheet then shows that on the day you accept the quote, not at the final invoice.

The Remaining column and the Left after the pool cell agree here only because of how the line budgets were set. If they add to the total less the pool, as here, Remaining sums to $200 and matches Left after the pool. If you spread the whole $22,000 across the lines instead, Remaining sums to $3,500 and only the Left after the pool formula, which subtracts the pool from the total, gives $200. Either layout works; decide on one before you start entering quotes.

What changes when a line goes over

Suppose the tile quote is accepted at $5,800, which is $300 above its $5,500 Budget. Committed becomes $18,800, so Looks like left is $3,200 and Left after the pool is $3,200 - $3,300 = -$100. Contingency used is $300, and Contingency left is $3,000. The two cells differ because Left after the pool nets the $200 of room still sitting on the vanity and carpentry lines against the tile overrun, while Contingency used counts only the line that went over. Both say the pool is being touched. Pick the one you want to watch and keep to it.

Mistakes that make the number wrong

• Treating the pool as spare cash. You chose to hold it back. If you decide to spend it, lower the contingency % on purpose so the sheet shows the decision.
• Typing 15 instead of 15%. The pool becomes 15 times the total. The last formula above catches that.
• A missing line. Fixtures you plan to buy yourself, or haul-away billed separately, are real spending. If they are not rows, Committed is understated and the $200 is too high. The DIY expense tracker guide covers owner-bought items.
• Quotes that are not comparable. A tile quote that excludes waterproofing is not the same commitment as one that includes it. See the bid comparison guide.
• Change orders edited into the line. An approved change order belongs in its own row so the line's original quote stays visible. The change order tracker guide shows how.

Reading it week to week

Look at three cells: Left after the pool, Contingency used, and the count of lines with nothing committed yet. A small Left after the pool while several lines are still uncommitted means the open lines have little room, so watch the next quote more closely. For the pool itself, see the contingency tracker guide. For how the quotes become payments, see committed versus paid.

What this does not do

This is a planning tool, not financial, construction or legal advice. It does not estimate what a bathroom costs, and it does not know whether 15% is the right pool for your house; the contingency percentage, any final-payment holdback and the payment splits are your inputs. It only does the subtraction consistently. It leaves out taxes entirely. The Hexloom Renovation Budget Tracker holds the same lines, change orders and payments in one Excel file.

More renovation budget guides

• Renovation cost overrun percentage calculator: the formula and a worked example
• Renovation contingency tracker: how much contingency is left
• Renovation change order tracker: a spreadsheet for homeowners
• Renovation budget spreadsheet: track committed vs paid
• Renovation budget by room spreadsheet: SUMIFS per room, with an overrun flag
• Kitchen remodel budget spreadsheet in Excel, built line by line
• DIY renovation expense tracker spreadsheet: receipts by room and category
• Contractor payment schedule template for homeowners in Excel
• Contractor bid comparison spreadsheet for homeowners