Budget Billing Calculator

Use our Budget Billing Calculator to work out a level monthly payment for your utilities, and what you’ll owe or get back at the year-end true-up. Budget billing evens out seasonal bills — big heating or cooling months — into the same payment every month.

Your utility spreads a year’s expected charges over the payments, often with a small buffer and any balance you already owe or a credit you have. For example, $2,400 of expected charges, a 5% buffer ($120) and a $120 balance come to $2,640, or $220 a month over 12 payments. Enter a credit as a negative number: a credit larger than the year’s charges means nothing to pay for now.

At the end of the plan, your actual charges are compared with what you paid. If the year’s charges were $2,500 and you paid 12 × $220 on top of the $120 balance, you’d have a $20 credit. If they were $2,520 and you paid 12 × $200 plus $50, you’d owe $70. Budget billing changes when you pay, not how much — your total still depends on the energy you use.

Your utility sets the actual payment and how it settles up, and may adjust the payment during the year, so treat the results as an estimate. To estimate a year’s charges from your monthly bills, use our Utilities Cost Per Month Calculator; to fit the payment into your spending, our Monthly Budget Calculator.