Goodbudget is a small business budget service that allows users to log and allocate their finances via a web browser or a free app on iOS and Android devices from the App Store and Google Play Store. Amidst a virtual sea of small business budget tools, Goodbudget stands alone because of its relevance to the modern online world we’re living in – indeed, with Goodbudget, gone are the days of carrying paper envelopes; with this virtual small business budget calculator, you can remain on track by way of a time-tested envelope budgeting method.

GoodBudget helps you keep on track with a digital take on the traditional envelope method of budgeting.

How it Works: Stay On Top of Your Bills and Finances

Whether your small business monthly budget has gotten out of control or you’re looking for a way to automate small business budget elements, Goodbudget has you covered. We all know that there are a myriad of ways to approach building, managing and balancing a budget – but the more traditional method is referred to as the aforementioned envelope system, wherein cash is physically divided into separate envelopes for expenses such as groceries, office supplies and the cell phone bill.

Goodbudget represents the virtual – and less risky – way to accomplish this, especially in the small business domain, because it puts a modern twist on the classic envelope tactic. Though it’s typically marketed towards personal and home budgeting efforts, Goodbudget has been hailed as equally efficient for small businesses and freelancers alike for a number of reasons, one of which is the fact that it’s a free service. While this comes with some basic functionality, users are urged to sign up for a $6-per-month plan that allows for unlimited envelopes and accounts (ideal for sharing with partners), five years of financial history and email support.

With a free version and a premium version at $6, it won’t break the bank.

When first setting up Goodbudget for your small business budget calculator needs, you’ll be presented “regular” envelopes for your frequent expenses such as payroll, office rent and office supplies, while “more” envelopes can be created to allocate money for annual expenses and savings such as vacations, holiday parties or an emergency fund. You begin your foray into modern business budgeting by customizing your envelopes, adding your income and listing a financial “account” such as a checking/savings account, credit cards or cash.

Daily Ease of Using Goodbudget

Every time you spend or receive money, it gets logged in your Goodbudget account, and once you’ve assigned an amount to each envelope, you can begin to enter your transactions and observe how they literally affect your budget. Here’s a good example of what we mean: You allot $200 per month to your office supplies envelope, but then make a trip to the grocery store and buy $50 worth of food for the office snack room. Once you click “add transaction,” you will be prompted to enter the store name and the amount you spent, and then be able to select your “grocery” envelope. That $50 will be taken out of the envelope and you will be left with $150 to spend on supplies for the month.

Scheduled transactions help you stay efficient and on track.

What’s more, to make things highly intuitive, each envelope’s balance is represented by a colorful bar on your home screen that adjusts to reflect activity, with green indicating there is money remaining in the envelope and red indicating you have surpassed budget.

Does it get any easier to automate small business budget than this?

What Else You Need to Know

We recommend consulting the user guides and instructional videos on the Goodbudget website before you get started, but the bottom line is this: Goodbudget represents a collection of small business budget tools that help put your spending in perspective, as it allows you to break your budget down by expense while enabling you to view personalized reports. You can even play around with your envelopes, adjusting allowances as you see fit.

When a small business monthly budget needs to fall in line, look no further than Goodbudget.

Please check out our other favorite tech tools for managing your finances.