Todo está listo excepto el presupuesto.

Because listo here describes a state or condition: everything is ready. In Spanish, temporary states are usually expressed with estar, not ser.

• Todo está listo = everything is ready
• Todo es listo would be wrong here

Also, listo with ser usually means clever/smart, especially for people:

• Él es listo = he is clever
• La cena está lista = dinner is ready

So in this sentence, estar is the natural choice.

Here, todo means everything.

It is being used as a pronoun, not as an adjective. That is why it appears by itself:

• Todo está listo = everything is ready

Compare that with todo used before a noun:

• Todo el trabajo está listo = all the work is ready
• Todo el presupuesto = the whole budget

So in your sentence, todo is not modifying a noun; it stands alone and means everything.

Because it agrees with todo, which here behaves as a singular word meaning everything.

So the pattern is:

• Todo está listo
• not Todo está listos

Even though everything may refer to many things in real life, grammatically todo is singular.

If you were talking about multiple specific items, you would use plural agreement:

• Todos están listos = they are all ready
• Las cosas están listas = the things are ready

A very common learner question.

• todo = everything / all / the whole
• todos = everyone / all of them / all (masculine or mixed plural)

Examples:

• Todo está listo = everything is ready
• Todos están listos = everyone is ready / they are all ready

If the group is feminine:

• Todas están listas

So in your sentence, todo is correct because the idea is everything, not all people or all items as a plural group.

Excepto means except.

It introduces the one thing that is not included:

• Todo está listo excepto el presupuesto = everything is ready except the budget

It works a lot like English except.

Other similar Spanish words are:

• salvo = except for
• menos = except / minus / except for

Examples:

• Todo está listo salvo el presupuesto
• Todo está listo menos el presupuesto

All three are possible, though excepto is very clear and neutral.

Because in Spanish, nouns often need an article where English might not always emphasize one.

Here, el presupuesto means the budget.

Spanish usually prefers the article when talking about a specific thing already known in context:

• excepto el presupuesto = except the budget

If you said just excepto presupuesto, it would sound incomplete or unnatural in most normal situations.

Presupuesto is a masculine singular noun, so it takes:

• el presupuesto

That is why, if an adjective described it directly, the adjective would also be masculine singular:

• El presupuesto está listo
• El presupuesto aprobado
• El presupuesto final

A useful tip: many nouns ending in -o are masculine, though not all.

Yes. Listo is a very common word with more than one meaning.

With estar, it often means ready:

• Ya está listo = it’s ready now

With ser, especially for people, it often means smart/clever:

• Es muy listo = he’s very clever

So the verb helps determine the meaning:

• estar + listo → ready
• ser + listo → clever

That is one reason Todo está listo is so natural: it clearly means everything is ready.

Yes, you could.

Preparado also means prepared/ready, and in many contexts it works well:

• Todo está preparado excepto el presupuesto

The difference is mostly nuance:

• listo = ready
• preparado = prepared

In many everyday situations, listo sounds a bit more natural and direct for ready. But preparado is also correct.

Yes. Spanish allows some flexibility.

You can also say:

• Excepto el presupuesto, todo está listo.

This puts more emphasis on the exception first.

Both are correct:

• Todo está listo excepto el presupuesto.
• Excepto el presupuesto, todo está listo.

The first version is the more neutral, straightforward one.

A rough pronunciation guide for Spain would be:

TO-do es-TA LIS-to eks-THEP-to el pre-su-PWES-to

A few notes:

• está has the stress on the last syllable: es-TA
• in most of Spain, the c in excepto before e is pronounced like th in think
• presupuesto is stressed on -pues-

More roughly in IPA for Spain: /ˈtoðo esˈta ˈlisto eksˈθepto el pɾesuˈpwesto/

If you are learning Spain Spanish, that θ sound in excepto is normal in much of the country.

Because está needs a written accent mark according to Spanish stress rules.

• está is stressed on the last syllable, so it takes an accent
• todo and listo are naturally stressed on the second-to-last syllable, so they do not need one

Also, the accent in está helps distinguish it from esta:

• está = is
• esta = this (feminine)

So the accent is both a pronunciation clue and a spelling distinction.

It is neutral. It works in both formal and informal situations.

You could use it:

• in conversation
• in an email
• in a meeting
• in a report

It is a very standard sentence structure and does not sound especially casual or especially formal.

It would be used when almost everything has been completed or prepared, but one item is still missing or unfinished.

For example:

• in a business meeting: everything is ready except the budget
• for a project: all the documents are ready except the budget
• for an event: all planning is done except the budget

So it is a very practical sentence pattern you can reuse:

• Todo está listo excepto...
• Everything is ready except...

Yes, very easily. This is a useful sentence frame:

Todo está listo excepto + noun

Examples:

• Todo está listo excepto la presentación. = Everything is ready except the presentation.
• Todo está listo excepto los detalles finales. = Everything is ready except the final details.
• Todo está listo excepto el informe. = Everything is ready except the report.

It is a great structure to memorize and adapt.