We like to find ways to make mundane tasks easy.  Xero has been updating their budgeting capability and now it is becoming really easy to set up an overall budget.  

Budgeting tips:

1. Be realistic: like most good budgeting programs, Xero bases the projections on an average of your most recent actual results.  You then need to update the numbers for changes you expect, if any.
2. Keep it live: a budget needs to be checked and revised regularly, it is not a "set and forget" strategy.
3. Learn from the numbers: analyse your budget and tweak it to improve your business results.
4. Review regularly: it is important to review your budget regularly to learn from it and work on building your business model and strategy.

Yes, you can still do budgeting in excel, however, the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle applies particularly to accounting and bookkeeping software and this keeps it very simple.   We also found this great article on the 14 best budgeting tips from real people's budgets.