In short: A production budget top sheet is a one-page summary with one line per department and a total at the bottom. Each line takes its figure from a detailed sheet, and VAT and contingency sit on their own lines. Build the detail first, then let the top sheet add it up with formulas, and check the totals agree. Show day rates as indicative, and mark which figures are quoted and which are estimated.
The top sheet answers the first question anyone asks: what does this cost? Keep the detail behind it, and let the summary show the shape of the money.
What the template holds
A summary with one row per department: development, pre-production, cast, crew, studio and locations, equipment, art and set, wardrobe and make-up, transport, catering, post-production, insurance, and admin and fees. Contingency and VAT sit below them, with the total at the bottom. Each department row adds up its own lines on the Detail tab, and the template also compares the total with the money you have available.
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How to build it, step by step
- Set the shoot days, the crew size and the studio or location days from the shooting schedule.
- Fill the Detail tab first, with a department against every line: each day rate, each hire and each consumable, with its quantity and rate.
- Let the top sheet pick up each department total with a formula, not a typed number.
- Add insurance, then admin and fees on the Detail tab, which are easy to forget.
- Enter contingency as a fixed amount. Agree the figure with the producer and funder before you start.
- Add VAT as its own line where it applies.
- Compare the total with the money you have. If it is short, cut scope on the Detail tab, not in the top sheet.
Crew day rates, worked
Granary's indicative crew day rates are £350 for a spark, £395 for an editor, £450 for a camera operator, £450 for a gaffer, £495 for a sound recordist, £575 for a director of photography and £750 for a director, all +VAT. A two-day shoot with a camera operator, a gaffer and a sound recordist comes to £2,790 +VAT at those indicative rates, before overtime and expenses. The figures on the top sheet should show that calculation, so the producer can see which part is fixed and which is open.
Common mistakes
- No contingency line, so the first surprise comes straight out of the fee.
- Typed totals in the top sheet instead of formulas. They drift as soon as a detail line changes.
- Quoting some lines with VAT and others without it.
- Leaving insurance and admin off because they do not look like production costs.
- Budgeting only the shoot days, not the preparation and the edit.
Crew can be booked through Granary, and the film crew hire page covers how. For cover, see the production insurance explained page. The crew deal memo records the agreed fee for each person, so the top sheet can be checked against signed terms.
Related guides
Questions we get asked
What is a top sheet in film budgeting?
A one-page summary of the production budget. Each department has one line, and that line comes from its detailed sheet. It is the first page a producer or funder reads.
Should a UK budget include VAT?
Show VAT as its own line, so the net and gross totals are both visible. Granary's prices are quoted +VAT, and the crew day rates below are shown the same way.
How much contingency should a film budget have?
Agree the figure with the producer and funder before you start. Show it as its own line, so it is visible and can be released or spent on purpose.
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