Entering Budgets
- In the Nominal Ledger module, click the [Budgets] button in the Master Control panel.
The 'Budget - Accounts: Browse' window is opened, showing those Accounts for which Budgets have already been entered. You should enter a separate Budget record for each Account for a particular fiscal year.
- Click [New] in the Button Bar or highlight a Budget record similar to the one you want to enter and click [Duplicate] in the Button Bar.
The 'Budget - Account: New' window is opened, empty if you clicked [New] or containing a duplicate of the highlighted Budget record.
- Account
- Paste Special
Nominal Ledger/Account register, System module
- Enter the number of the Account for which you want to enter a Budget.
- Comment
- The Account name will be placed in this field by FirstOffice.
- Period
- Enter the first and last date of the budget period.
- Base Value
- Enter the expected total for the budget period. Remember to enter sales and income values, liabilities and equity as negative (credit) values, and assets and costs as positive (debit) values.
- You can treat this figure as a control total for the period. If the period is a year, for example, you can break the figure down into monthly or quarterly totals in the grid area. You can enter these figures yourself, working to the Base Value as a target, or you can calculate them from the Base Value using a Budget Key, specified in the next field.
- Budg. Key
- Paste Special
Budget Keys setting, Nominal Ledger
- The Budget Key is a useful tool for breaking an annual budget figure down to monthly totals if that process can be carried out using a formula. For example, experience may show that sales of a particular product always follow a set pattern with a certain percentage in each month. Alternatively, and more simply, you can use a Budget Key to break an annual rent figure down into twelve equal divisions.
- To apply a Budget Key to a Budget record, you should first enter a figure to the Base Value field. This figure should represent the budget for the whole period (perhaps a year). Then, specify an appropriate Budget Key and enter the start dates of each month or quarter on separate rows in the grid area. You should have the same number of period divisions (i.e. rows in the grid) as you have entered for the Budget Key. Then, choose 'Recalculate' from the Operations menu. For each row, a total (i.e. a monthly or quarterly total) will appear in the grid area. These will be calculated by apportioning the Base Value according to the ratios in the Budget Key. Finally, save the record.
- Date
- In the grid area, enter the start date for each of the budget periods. You can use any number of periods but, if you are using a Budget Key, you should have the same number of periods as you have entered for the Budget Key. If the Budget and Budget Keys have different numbers of periods, the Base Value and Budget Sum figures will not match after you have used the 'Recalculate' function.
- You must enter a date for each budget period. To save labour and reduce the chance for error, the easiest way to enter Budget records is to use the [Duplicate] button to copy a Budget record with the dates already entered.
- Values
- Enter absolute values for each period.
- If you have not specified a Budget Key, these Values will be moved to the right-hand column as soon as you select 'Recalculate' from the Operations menu.
- If you have specified a Budget Key and Base Value, these Values will be treated as extra amounts to be added to the calculated figures in the right-hand column when you use the 'Recalculate' function.
- Budget
- FirstOffice will calculate this value for you when you select the 'Recalculate' command from the Operations menu.
- Budget Sum
- This field shows the total budget for the year. Unlike the figure that you entered in the Base Value field, this figure is calculated automatically by FirstOffice: it is the sum of the Budget figures in the grid. Therefore, if you revise the Budget and recalculate it using the 'Recalculate' function on the Operations menu, the Base Value will remain unchanged, so you can make a comparison between the original budgeted figure and the final one. The Budget Sum will also take into account any extra amounts in the Values column.
- If you cannot explain the difference between the Base Value and the Budget Sum, the probable cause is that the Budget has a different number of periods (rows in the grid) to the Budget Key.
- When you have entered Values in as many rows in the grid as you need, or you have chosen a Budget Key, select 'Recalculate' from the Operations menu and click [Save] to save, or [Cancel] to cancel.
- Repeat steps 1 to 3 to set Budgets for all Accounts. Use the [Duplicate] button to assist with the data entry. Only one Budget record can be saved for each Account/Period combination.
! | For Budget figures to appear in Nominal Ledger reports for comparison purposes, at least one entry with a date must be made to the grid area of the Budget screen. | |
- Two reports allow you to compare Budgets with actual figures: the Balance Sheet and the Profit & Loss report.
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