Project Budget Burn Calculator
Budget burn measures how much of your project budget is already consumed compared to how much work you have actually delivered. If spend runs ahead of progress, the project will land over budget unless you act. This calculator shows you in seconds where you stand.
Result
€0/h
Minimum break-even rate
Example project. Change the values for your own project.
Project data
Used to calculate when the budget will be exhausted
Projected total cost
141.7 h
Budget: 120.0 h
for 40% remaining work
Budget vs. progress
↑ Scope-creep gap: 10.8%
At the current pace, the budget will be exhausted in 4 project days.
Heads up: you're burning budget faster than you're delivering. At this pace you'll need about 21.7 h too many. Now is the time for a scope conversation with the client.
Disclaimer
This calculator is for guidance purposes only and does not replace professional financial advice.
All benchmarks and calculations are based on data available in 2026 and are not legally binding.
The formula, with a worked example
Burn rate is budget consumed divided by project progress. A value above 1 means you are spending faster than the project is moving forward. Example: from a 200-hour budget your team has used 140 hours (70 percent), but only half the scope is delivered (50 percent). Your burn rate is 1.4. Projected to the end, the project costs 280 hours instead of 200, an overrun of 80 hours.
Warning thresholds: when it turns critical
A solid rule of thumb: budget consumed should never sit far ahead of progress. Yellow is the classic pattern of 70 percent budget spent at 50 percent progress, because half the work remains while only 30 percent of the funds are left. Red is any state where the projected total cost exceeds the budget with no contingency to cover it. Check at every milestone, not just once at the end, because corrections get more expensive the later they happen.
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