The spreadsheet is the job
Ask a producer what they search for most and the honest answer is a budget template. Pre-production fees, crew above and below the line, camera and grip rental, post, insurance, contingency, margin.
In Brazil the ANCINE budget forms are the de facto grammar even for commercial work, because everyone downstream already reads them. Elsewhere the shape differs but the discipline does not: every line has a source, a quantity and a date.
Rate tables are not optional reading
Talent and crew rates are set by collective agreements, not by vibes. In São Paulo that means the SATED and SIAESP tables, including overtime, night differentials, minors on set and the loop counts that change a dub actor's fee.
Getting this wrong is not a rounding error. It is a liability that lands on the production company months after delivery.
Time is the fourth budget line
The shot breakdown and the call sheet are the script translated into logistics: who is on set, at what hour, with which props, under what light, and how many meals.
Build contingency into the schedule rather than the budget alone. Weather, a failed camera body and a talent no-show are not unusual events, they are Tuesday.