Budgets

Add a Budget Ledger

 A starter budget is provided. If additional budgets need to be created, or if specific companies need to be assigned to a budget, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to Finance → Preferences → Ledgers (GL201500).
2. On the toolbar, select Add New Record.
3. In the Ledger ID field, enter a unique identifier for the ledger, such as BUDGET.
4. In the Description field, enter a brief description, such as Budget.
5. In the Type field, select Budget.
6. In the grid at the bottom of the form, ensure the appropriate Company is selected to be associated with this ledger.

Budget Configuration

The Budget Configuration (GL205000) form, found in Finance → Preferences, is used for advanced budget setup. It enables the creation of custom groupings of accounts.

This step is not required for a standard budget organized by GL account and can be skipped.

When using this functionality, corresponding financial statements will generally need to be created to match the structure defined in the budget tree.

Prepare or Alter a Budget

Loading Budget Data from Actual Expenses

1. Open the Budgets form
   • Navigate to Finance → Budgets (GL302010). 
2. Select the Ledger
   • In the Ledger field, choose the ledger that will be used for the budget.
3. Select the Financial Year
   • In the Financial Year field, select the budget year to be managed.

Note: If creating a budget for a future year, you must first generate the new financial year. Navigate to Finance → Processes → Manage Financial Calendar (GL302010) and click Generate Calendar. (See the Financial Calendars and Periods article for detailed steps.)

4. Preload Budget Data
   • On the form toolbar, click Preload Articles to open the Preload Budget Articles Wizard.
5. On the first page (Step 1) of the Preload Budget Articles Wizard, select source data:
   • Ledger: select Actual to load financial data and accounts from the Actual ledger.
   • Financial Year: Choose the year of the data you want to load.                    Example: To use 2025 actual expenses for the 2026 budget, select 2025.
   • Multiplier: Enter 100% to load data unchanged, a value greater than 100% to increase the figures, or less than 100% to decrease them.
   • 
6.  Click Next to open the next page of the wizard (Step 2).
7. Select the Accounts to Include. (Most customers would select the First revenue through the Last Expense account).
   • Account From: Select the first account in the desired range of accounts (typically the first revenue account).
   • Account To: Select the last account in the desired range (typically the last expense account).
   • Account Mask: Use a mask to limit which accounts are included. A mask of ?????????? means nothing specific and includes all accounts in the range.
   • Subaccount Mask (optional): Use this field to include only specific subaccounts.

8. Click Next to open the next page of the wizard (Step 3). 
9. Accept the default options:
   • Update Existing Articles and Load Nonexistent Articles.
   • Click Finish to closte the wizard.

10. After completing the Preload Budget Articles Wizard, the system returns to the Budgets (GL302010) form. Click Save on the form toolbar.

Altering Budget Data Once Loaded

In the budget table, the actual total expenses from the selected financial year are now displayed.

• The Amount column displays the total for each account based on the year selected in the wizard.
• Each line represents a budget article (account) that can now be reviewed or modified.

Options to Alter the Budget

1. Manual Adjustments
   • The Amount field can be edited directly for any account by double-clicking within any amount field (Period 1 through Period 12) to modify the specific dollar amount.
2. Export and Reimport Budget Data Using Excel.
   • Budget data can be exported to Excel for easier review and modification, then imported back into the same budget record.

Note: It is recommended to DELETE any rows that will not have a budget amount entered before exporting to Excel.

3. Distribute Amounts Evenly by Period
   •  Type a value in the Amounts column.     
   • Click the Distribute button on the table toolbar which will bring up a dialog box.
   •  In the Distribute Year Amounts by Periods dialog box, select Evenly to distribute equal amounts to all periods.
   • Adjust the period amounts manually if needed. Make sure the article's amount is equal to the distributed amount.
   • Click Save on the form toolbar.   

When all budget modifications have been completed, the budget must be released as the final step in the process.  (see below)

Releasing Budgets

1. Open the Release Budgets form
   • Navigate to Finance → Budgets → Release Budgets (GL505510).
2. Select the Budget Articles to Release:
   • Perform one of the following options:
     • To release all budget articles, click Release All on the form toolbar.
     • To release only selected budget articles, select the check box next to each budget article to be released, and then select Release on the form toolbar.

Comparing Budgets

1. Open the Budgets form
   • Navigate to Finance → Budgets (GL302010)
2. Select the Ledger
   • In the Ledger field, select the ledger associated with the budget to be reviewed.
3. Select the Financial Year
   • In the Financial Year field, select the year for the budget being analyzed.
4. Select the Comparison Ledger
   • In the Compare to Ledger field, select the ledger containing the data to compare against the budget data. The ledger named ACTUAL is used for your actual data.
5. Select the Compare to Year
   • In the Compare to Year field, select the year for the budget being compared.
6. Review Comparison Data
   • In the form table, each account displays two rows: 
     • The first row shows the current budget account values.
     • The second row, labeled Compared, displays the figures from the ledger and year selected for comparison.