Add-on — Live Labor Budget Tool
Upload once.
Your budget updates itself.
Add the Live Labor Budget, and every timesheet you upload updates your live budget.
Four tabs. One question.
Are we on the number?
The tool is built the way a show is run: project the calls, record what the sign-in sheets said, watch the two side by side while the show runs, and close it out.
- 01 · Projections
The calls, the way you say them.
8 men at 8 hours is 64 hours, split 4 straight, 4 overtime, 0 double the way your agreement pays it. By phase and class, priced from your rate card. Material handling and pre-show hours have their own lines.
- 02 · Actuals
What the sheets said.
One row per day per class: heads, straight, overtime and double-time hours, hours paid. Typed from the sign-in sheets, or imported from your payroll file.
- 03 · Analytics
Projected next to actual, every day.
Heads, hours and cost per day with the difference and a status word, the days worked so far, the days still to come, and how many men tomorrow's call can afford, with the arithmetic printed.
- 04 · Post-Show
Did it land on the number.
Revenue, projected and final labor, gross margin against what was projected, by phase and by class. Prints as the close-out report.
A worked example
Seven days, one electrical crew, one Thursday-night call.
Heartland Building Systems Expo 2026, Chicago, Saturday Nov 7 to Friday Nov 13: floor work, booth work, show service and dismantle. Revenue is $228,250. Everything here is fictional.
The mock agreement behind the numbers Rates and rules
- Revenue
- $218,500 contract + $9,750 change order
- Rates
- General Foreman $66.96 · Foreman $61.38 · Journeyman Wireman $55.80
- Fringe
- $31.76 per hour paid
- Rules
- 4-hour minimum call · double time outside 8:00–4:30 · Sundays and holidays double time all day
1 Projections, before the show
Every call is typed the way the floor says it: people × hours, then the straight / overtime / double-time split. Monday's biggest line:
The projection by phase
| Phase | Days | Hours | Loaded cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor Work | Sat Nov 7 | 40 | $5,041 |
| Booth Work | Sun Nov 8 – Mon Nov 9 | 260 | $29,707 |
| Show Days — service | Tue Nov 10 – Thu Nov 12 | 65 | $7,602 |
| Dismantle | Thu Nov 12 night – Fri Nov 13 | 208 | $25,101 |
| Projected | 7 days | 573 | $67,451 |
Loaded cost is wages plus fringe, supervision markup and reimbursements where they apply. Wages alone are $47,818.
2 Actuals, from the sign-in sheets
One row per day per class, typed from the sheets or imported from the payroll file. Tuesday: a booth trouble call brought a third wireman in, paid to the 4-hour minimum. $2,770 loaded against $2,413 projected, and the day says so.
3 Wednesday night: the screen you watch while the show runs
Five of seven days worked. The crew is $1,045 under the projection, and the forecast for the whole show is $66,405 against $67,451.
Heartland Building Systems Expo · Wednesday night, day 5 of 7
- SatFloor · worked
- SunBooth · worked
- MonBooth · worked
- TueShow · worked
- WedShow · worked
- ThuTomorrow
- FriDismantle
Projected vs actual, by day
| Day | Phase | Projected | Actual | Difference | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat Nov 7 | Floor Work | $5,041 | $5,153 | +$112 | On plan |
| Sun–Mon Nov 8–9 | Booth Work | $29,707 | $29,089 | −$618 | On plan |
| Tue Nov 10 | Show service | $2,413 | $2,770 | +$357 | Over |
| Wed Nov 11 | Show service · holiday | $3,839 | $2,943 | −$896 | Under |
| Thu Nov 12 | Show + dismantle night | $20,717 | tomorrow | — | Room for 3 |
| Fri Nov 13 | Dismantle | $5,734 | open | — | Planned |
| Show | Forecast | $67,451 | $66,405 | −$1,045 | On plan |
Loaded cost. Worked days compare projected to actual; open days show the projection. Status: beyond the 5% threshold is over or under, else on plan.
Burn curve — cumulative labor $
- Projected $67,451
- Actual $39,954
- Forecast $66,405
Tomorrow's call (Thu Nov 12 · the dismantle night): 18 men planned, the biggest call of the week. 21 men affordable.
How does the tool get to 21 men? View paper-check math
- Loaded labor budget
- $67,450.83 the projection, loaded
- Loaded cost to date
- $39,954.39 five days of sign-in sheets
- Remaining
- $27,496.44
- Loaded cost per man-day
- $998.86 over the 40 man-days worked so far
- Tomorrow's share
- $21,535.87 = $27,496.44 remaining × $20,717.12 (tomorrow's plan) ÷ $26,451.08 (the plan of every open day)
- Affordable men
- $21,535.87 ÷ $998.86 = 21.56 → rounded down to 21 men, 18 planned: room for 3
Want to run this math in your own spreadsheet? Read the crew-call guide
4 Post-show: did it land on the number
All seven days worked. The Thursday night crew finished early and four went out at 1:00 AM, so the dismantle came in 22 hours light.
Close-out report · all 7 days worked
Projected vs final, by phase
- Projected
- Final
The ledger by phase
| Phase | Projected | Final | Difference | Hours | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floor Work | $5,041 | $5,153 | +$112 | 40 of 40 | On plan |
| Booth Work | $29,707 | $29,089 | −$618 | 254 of 260 | On plan |
| Show Days — service | $7,602 | $7,063 | −$539 | 67.5 of 65 | Under budget |
| Dismantle | $25,101 | $19,336 | −$5,765 | 186 of 208 | Under budget |
| Total | $67,451 | $60,640 | −$6,810 | 547.5 of 573 | Under budget |
Status: over or under the projection beyond the 5% threshold, else on plan. The threshold is a setting. The close-out prints as a report; projections and actuals export as CSV.
- Loaded cost is wages + supervision markup + fringe + reimbursements. Employer taxes and workers' compensation are not in it.
- Actuals are typed from the sign-in sheets or imported from a payroll CSV. The tool prices them from your rate card; a payroll figure, when known, replaces hours × rate.
- Nothing is sent. The status words and tomorrow's call are on the screen; no email, no text.
- No names. Crew are counts. The tool holds no personal data and never connects to a payroll system.
Fictional show. Example figures, from the tool. The Live Labor Budget Tool is a plan add-on.