When do budget templates fail, and how do you account for 'soft costs'?

Hey everyone, I'm Sofia, a location scout, and I'm wrestling with a budget for an upcoming indie feature, it's got a lot of moving parts, multiple states, and some tricky permit situations. I've been using a pretty standard template I've relied on for years, but lately, I'm feeling like it just doesn't capture everything.

I’m specifically talking about those 'soft costs' beyond the obvious line items. Things like E&O insurance, all the legal eagle stuff for contracts and releases, and even the potential for audit prep down the line. These aren't usually explicit lines on the template I have, and I worry about them getting overlooked until it's too late.

Has anyone else run into this? How do you practically account for these kinds of hidden or auxiliary costs without just adding a giant 'contingency' line item and hoping for the best?