House Flipping Spreadsheet for Bookkeeping: Costs, Budget vs Actual and Draws

What does the house flip workbook track?

One flip from purchase to sale, in 3 working tabs: every cost by category, the rehab budget against what was spent, and each lender draw against the loan. Blank copies of each are included for your own flip.

• Costs by category: every cost of the flip on its own line, in 4 groups, with the profit at the bottom.
• Budget against actual: one budget line per trade, what was spent on it, and how far over or under it ran.
• Draw log: each lender draw, the rehab payment it covered, and the loan owed after it.

The example rows are Project 7 at 88 Imaginary Ln, Modesto, the rehab that ran 31% over budget in our sample report.

The workbook keeps one property's costs on that property, which is the whole idea of job cost accounting for house flips.

How are a flip's costs grouped?

In 5 groups: purchase cost (the price and the closing costs paid when buying), rehab, loan costs (points and lender fees), holding (interest, property tax, insurance, utilities, HOA) and selling. These are the same groups as our per-deal report.

Project 7 was bought on Apr 20, 2026 for $295,000 and sold on Sep 9, 2026 for $430,000. Here is every cost of the deal from the sample books, as the first tab lists it.

Demo Flips LLC is a sample company. The lines are its ledger for Project 7. Materials were bought on the business card.

The second table is the result, in the same groups as the per-deal report.

The sample report shows these in whole dollars: purchase cost $296,830, rehab $72,050, loan costs $6,506, holding $16,295, selling $25,968 and net profit $12,351, after 142 days.

Each group matches an account in the real estate chart of accounts for flips, so the totals can move into a set of books without being sorted again.

The books record points and interest on the property they belong to. How those costs are treated on the tax return is your CPA's call.

How do you compare the rehab budget with actual?

Give each trade its own budget line before work starts. Add every rehab payment to its line as it is paid. The over-budget column then shows which trade is running over while the work is still going.

Project 7 had a $55,000 rehab budget and spent $72,050. The second tab shows where the $17,050 went, trade by trade.

The split of the $55,000 budget by trade is invented for this example. The payments are the sample books' 5 rehab payments on Project 7.

Every trade ran over. Framing and demo ran 75% over, the largest gap by far. A tab like this shows that while the crew is still on site, as long as each payment goes on its line the day it is paid.

How does the draw log work?

Each row is one draw: the date, the rehab payment it covered, the amount and the loan owed after it. Draws add to the loan. At the sale, the payoff should equal the loan at closing plus every draw.

The lender funded $250,800.00 at closing on Apr 20, 2026. It then reimbursed each of the 5 rehab payments with a draw, so the loan grew with the rehab.

The tie-out is one line. The loan at closing, $250,800.00, plus $72,050.00 of draws is $322,850.00, and the settlement statement at sale shows a payoff of $322,850.00. The two agree, so no draw is missing from the books.

A draw is borrowed money, not income. The points, the interest and the payoff each have their own entry. We set them out step by step in hard money loan bookkeeping.

How do you set it up for your own flip?

Delete the example rows, enter the purchase closing statement, set a budget for each trade, then log every payment and every draw as it happens. At the sale, enter the settlement statement and read the result.

1. 1Delete the example rows for Project 7 and type the property address at the top.
2. 2Enter the purchase closing statement: the price and the escrow, owner's title and inspection on the purchase lines, and the loan points and the lender's title and recording on the loan costs lines.
3. 3Set a budget for each trade before the work starts, one line per trade.
4. 4Log every rehab payment the day it is paid: date, who was paid, the trade and how it was paid.
5. 5Log every draw from the lender's draw notice. Check the loan owed against the lender's statement each month.
6. 6Add each interest bill, insurance premium, utility bill and property tax installment to its holding line.
7. 7At the sale, enter the settlement statement: the sale price, each selling cost and the loan payoff. The costs by category tab shows the profit.

Keep the receipts, invoices and draw notices in one folder by property. Each line in the workbook should trace back to one of them.

When is one workbook no longer enough?

A workbook tracks one deal well. With several flips running, shared receipts, a business card and a loan on each property, the work becomes keeping every sheet agreeing with the bank each month.

The workbook uses the same 4 groups as our real estate bookkeeping report example, explained line by line. That report puts every project on one page, reconciled to the bank each month.

In our experience, the flippers who know what every deal really made make better decisions on the next one.