Free template
HOA Budget Template (Excel) With Operating and Reserve Columns and a Dues-per-Home Calculation
An HOA budget template is a spreadsheet a board fills in to plan one year of operating costs and reserve savings, and to work out the dues each home pays.
One Excel file, 4 tabs, no sign-up. It arrives filled in for Demo Ridge HOA, our sample association with 60 homes, so you can check every formula before you type your own numbers over it. Every number in it is invented data.
What is an HOA budget template?
An HOA budget template is a spreadsheet for planning one year of an association's operating costs and reserve savings. It ends with the dues each home pays.
This one is laid out the way the books are: last year's actual beside next year's budget, operating and reserves side by side, and the dues worked out at the bottom. The steps behind each number are in how to prepare an HOA budget.
What is in this HOA budget template?
One Excel file with 4 tabs: instructions, the budget with an operating column and a reserve column, the dues calculation, and a month-by-month split.
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| How to use | The instructions: the 5 steps, where to type (the shaded cells) and how the dues are worked out. |
| Budget | Each cost line with last year's actual, next year's figure in an operating column and a reserve column, the total, and the change from last year. |
| Dues calculation | The number of homes, the 2 totals, other income, and the dues per home for a year and a month. An optional ownership share for each home. |
| Monthly split | Each budget line spread over the 12 months, so the budget can be compared with actual in every monthly report. |
White cells hold formulas and work themselves out. Shaded cells are yours to type in.
How do you fill in the HOA budget template?
Enter the number of homes, paste in the last 12 months of actual costs, enter the reserve contribution, then type next year's figure for each line. The dues update as you type.
- 1On the Dues calculation tab, enter the number of homes.
- 2On the Budget tab, enter the last 12 months of actual cost for each line, from the books.
- 3Enter the reserve contribution for the year, from the reserve study.
- 4Type next year's figure for each operating line.
- 5Read the dues per home on the Dues calculation tab and the month-by-month split on the Monthly split tab.
The file does not work out the reserve contribution. It is typed in from the association's reserve study. Where the reserve contribution figure comes from is in the HOA reserve study and the books.
How does the HOA budget template calculate dues per home?
It adds the operating budget and the reserve contribution, subtracts other income, and divides by the number of homes and by 12. The sample gives $350 a home a month.
In words: operating budget, plus reserve contribution, minus other income, divided by the number of homes, divided by 12. Dues per home is also called dues per lot. Here is the sample.
The Dues calculation tab for Demo Ridge HOA, invented data
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Operating budget for the year | $201,600 |
| Reserve contribution for the year | $50,400 |
| Total budget | $252,000 |
| Other income for the year, not dues | $0 |
| Dues needed for the year | $252,000 |
| Dues per home a year, over 60 homes | $4,200 |
| Dues per home a month | $350 |
Of the $350, $280 goes to operating and $70 to reserves. All 60 homes together are billed $21,000 a month. How those dues are then billed to each owner is in recording HOA dues and special assessments.
Why does the HOA budget template have a reserve column?
Reserve money is saved for major repairs and kept apart from operating money. Its own column shows how much of each owner's dues goes to reserves.
The 2 columns at Demo Ridge HOA, invented data
| Operating column | Reserve column | |
|---|---|---|
| What goes in it | The 6 operating lines, each from last year's actual | The reserve contribution, from the reserve study |
| For the year | $201,600 | $50,400 |
| A month | $16,800 | $4,200 |
| A home a month | $280 | $70 |
| Together | $252,000 | $350 a home a month |
Kept in its own column, the reserve money cannot be spent on a running cost by mistake, and the board sees what part of each owner's dues is savings. How the reserve line becomes a monthly transfer is in HOA reserve fund accounting.
Can you use the HOA budget template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the Excel file to Google Sheets and open it there.
The steps for opening an Excel file in Sheets are on Google's help page on Excel files in Google Sheets, read on November 12, 2026. Check the formulas once after opening, as you would in Excel: the sample should still show $350 a home a month.
Does the HOA budget template work for a condo association?
Yes. A condo association budgets the same way. If the governing documents split dues by ownership share, enter each home's share on the dues tab.
With the shares left blank, every home pays an equal share, as Demo Ridge HOA does. With a share typed for every home, each home pays its share of the same total, and the shares must add up to 100%. How the budget is approved and what notice owners must get are set by state law and the governing documents, a question for the association's attorney.
Multifamily Bookkeeping fills in this budget from the association's own books, as an add-on that costs one month's fee, once a year. See our HOA bookkeeping service.