As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly create a budget for a business project.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open a blank spreadsheet and create columns for category, item, supplier, quantity, unit cost, timing, VAT treatment, total excluding VAT, VAT amount, total including VAT, source and status.
   2. Gather the project brief, supplier quotes, contracts, staff rates, planned hours, purchase costs, subscription terms, travel assumptions, payment dates and any funding limit.
   3. Paste those source details into the chatbot using the prompt, replacing each bracketed slot and keeping confirmed figures separate from estimates.
   4. Ask the chatbot to return the itemised budget, monthly cash requirement and low, expected and high scenarios in tables that can be copied into the spreadsheet.
   5. Paste the returned line items into the spreadsheet and compare every price, rate, date, VAT treatment and payment term with the relevant quote, contract or current business record.
   6. Add formulas for each line total, VAT total, category subtotal, monthly total and grand total, then reconcile the spreadsheet totals with the chatbot's totals.
   7. Ask the project owner and finance lead to confirm the scope, exclusions, contingency, VAT treatment and affordability before sending the approved budget to the people controlling the project.

   Prompt

   Create a business project budget from the information below. Use pounds sterling and separate costs into clear categories such as people, suppliers, materials, software, travel, marketing, overheads, VAT and contingency where relevant. Show each item with a description, quantity, unit cost, timing, VAT treatment, total excluding VAT, VAT amount and total including VAT. Distinguish confirmed costs from estimates and label every assumption. Include a monthly cash requirement, a summary by category, and a low, expected and high scenario. Do not invent prices, rates, tax treatment or suppliers. If information is missing, list it as a question or use a clearly labelled blank rather than guessing. Check that the subtotals, VAT and grand totals reconcile. State which costs are one-off and which are recurring. This is not professional advice. I will compare the result with the original quotes, contracts and current business records before approving it.
   
   Project name: [project name]
   Project purpose and scope: [scope]
   Start date and expected end date: [dates]
   Budget currency: GBP
   Staff and hours or days: [details]
   Supplier quotes and contracts: [details]
   Materials and equipment: [details]
   Software and subscriptions: [details]
   Travel and expenses: [details]
   Marketing and other costs: [details]
   Overheads to allocate: [details]
   VAT registration and treatment: [details]
   Contingency policy: [details]
   Payment dates or terms: [details]
   Known exclusions: [details]
   Available budget or funding limit: [amount]
   Required format: [Excel-style table, CSV, or markdown table]

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.