Purpose

The Budget module allows users to create and manage financial budgets, projecting future revenues and expenses based on historical data and anticipated changes. It provides a tool for financial planning and performance tracking.

Budget List View

Column Headers

• Accounting Period: The fiscal year for which the budget is created (e.g., 2024)
• New Budget: Name or identifier for each budget entry

Search & Filter

• Search field: Allows searching for specific budgets by year or name
• "+" Button: Creates a new stored budget

Budget Selected View

Column Headers

• Ledger Account Categories: Hierarchical list of revenue and expense accounts (e.g., 4000 Sales, 4040 Intercompany Professional Fees)
• December - [Previous Year]: Ending balances for each ledger account as of December of the previous year
• Budget +/-: User input field for positive or negative percentage increase per each ledger account
• Monthly Columns (e.g., January - 2024, February - 2024, etc.): Projected totals for each month
• Actual: Data pulled from TRUE Accounting's Income Statement and/or Profit and Loss Report
• Variance: Measures the change between budgeted and actual amounts

Additional Features

• "Filter" Icon:
  • Show All Budget Items: Reveals and/or hides data that does or does not contain a Budget item
  • Show Items with Values: Reveals and/or hides data that does or does not contain values

Understanding the Budget Module

1. Creating a New Budget:
   • Start with the December column of the previous year as the baseline
   • Use the Budget +/- column to input percentage increases or decreases for each account
   • The following months' projections are calculated based on these inputs
2. Monthly Projections:
   • Each month's column (e.g., January 2024) shows the expected total
   • This is calculated by applying the Budget +/- percentage to the December baseline
3. Actual vs. Budget Comparison:
   • The Actual column pulls real financial data from TRUE Accounting
   • The Variance column shows the difference between budgeted and actual figures
4. Hierarchical Account Structure:
   • Main categories (e.g., 4000 Sales) can be expanded to show subcategories
   • This allows for detailed budgeting at various levels of the chart of accounts

Common Workflow Questions

1. How do I create a new budget for the upcoming fiscal year?
2. Can I copy an existing budget as a starting point for a new year?
3. How do I adjust individual account projections within a budget?
4. What's the best way to compare actual performance against the budget?
5. Can I create multiple budget scenarios for the same fiscal year?
6. How often should I update the budget with actual figures?