What Burn Rate Shows You
Burn Rate reads your schedule, cast, crew, and breakdown, then estimates what each shoot day costs. Three cards sit at the top: Estimated overall spend, Average per shoot day, and Peak day. In By Shoot Day view the table has one row per shoot day.
| Column | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Crew | Crew called on the day's call sheet at their day rate, plus Crew P&H and payroll tax. With no calls on the sheet yet, the whole crew list counts |
| Cast | Performers called on the sheet, or in the day's scenes, at their day rate plus Cast P&H and payroll tax |
| Extras | Background on the day at the Per extra cost, with Cast P&H and payroll tax on top |
| Items | Props, vehicles, breakdown elements, and the location cost |
| Lodging & travel | Rooms, rentals and flights booked on that date. Only appears when something is booked |
| Total burn | All of the above plus overhead: the vehicle footprint, and base camp per head for everyone on the day |
| vs peak | How the day compares with the most expensive one |
The Rate Assumptions Strip
The fallbacks and percentages live in the Rate Assumptions strip above the table. Collapsed, it reads as one line: Crew $X/day · Cast $X/day · Extra $200 · Location $1,000 · Vehicle $500 · Footprint $3,000/day. Expand it to edit. Fields save when you click away.
- Crew day rate and Cast day rate: the fallback for anyone with no rate on their record. The hint shows the average of the rates you have entered
- Crew on set: blank means auto, which counts the crew list
- Per extra, Per prop, Per vehicle, Per location, Per element
- Crew P&H, Cast P&H and Payroll Tax percentages
- Footprint: base camp trucks and support vehicles, per day
- Base camp/person: base camp and meals per head per day, counted for everyone on the day
Estimated overall spend
$124,670
Across 5 shoot days
Average per shoot day
$24,934
Peak day
Day 5
$33,280
| Day # | Scenes | Date | Location(s) | Crew | Cast | Extras | Items | Total burn | vs peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1213 | Sep 14 | Safehouse | 16 $9,150 | 3 $3,400 | 0 $0 | 5 $1,120 | $18,190 | |
| 2 | 45 | Sep 15 | Marina, Parking Lot | 22 $11,880 | 4 $4,649 | 24 $4,800 | 7 $3,560 | $31,889 | |
| 3 | 21 | Sep 16 | Elevator | 15 $8,750 | 2 $2,117 | 0 $0 | 2 $1,030 | $16,257 | |
| 4 | 30 | Sep 17 | Rooftop | 21 $11,340 | 4 $4,234 | 12 $2,400 | 5 $1,120 | $25,054 | |
| 5 | 3133 | Sep 18 | Boardroom, Dockyard | 19 $10,450 | 4 $4,200 | 40 $8,000 | 6 $2,590 | $33,280 | |
On-Set Daily ATL & BTL Combined ATL (Cast): $18,600BTL (Crew + Extras + Items): $76,190Combined: $124,670 | |||||||||
Lodging, Vehicles and Flights
On a Company plan show, bookings from the Lodging and Transpo tabs land in the Lodging & travel column, charged like this.
| Booking | Charged |
|---|---|
| Hotel stay | Per night, from check-in to the night before check-out. A shared room counts at half rate |
| Rental vehicle | Per day, including the drop-off day |
| Flight | Once, on the day it flies |
By Shoot Day, By Scene, and Cards
By Scene gives one row per scene with its heading, day, location, and the crew cost allocated to it. The Overhead toggle adds an Overhead column there. Cards turns either view into a grid of day or scene cards with the cost split as chips. Under the day table, On-Set Daily ATL & BTL Combined splits the spend into ATL (cast) and BTL (crew, extras and items). Overhead and logistics sit only in Combined, so ATL plus BTL comes in under it.
One Scene's Cost
In By Scene view, click a scene to open its cost detail. It shows who the scene draws, the background count, base camp and meals for the people on set, and the P&H on top. The location slider is for what-ifs. Drag it to see the scene at a pricier location. The setting is remembered in this browser only. It does not change the table, the export, or what anyone else sees.
Exporting to Excel
Export writes a By Day sheet and a By Scene sheet. The day sheet has the called counts, the cost per category, overhead, and Total Burn. Lodging and travel are inside Total Burn but have no column of their own in the file.
What Burn Rate Leaves Out
Burn Rate is a planning estimate built from the rates you enter. It doesn't know about deal memos, kit fees, box rentals or turnaround, and it won't match your accountant's cost report. It doesn't count overtime either. That's on the Hot Costs tab, from the actual times.