Enter a Budget

This Step-By-Step tutorial guides you through the budget entry process and highlights key graphs and features on the Budget Information page. The final part of this tutorial walks you through exporting your budget, making changes in Excel, and importing it back into the General Ledger application.

Manual Entry of Budgets

1. From the General Ledger menu, select Modify -> Budget Information.

2. Set your Filters to view a specific department or account range, then click the Search button.

3. To modify an account's budget, click the Edit icon next to it.

4. Change the budget allocation from "Annual" to another distribution by clicking the Distribute Budget drop-down.

5. Enter the budget amounts for each period by tabbing from one period to the next.

6. A comparison graph of your Budget and Actual figures is available by hovering over the Large Graph icon.

7. The columns displayed on the Budget Entry page and the bars on the graph can be modified by clicking the Column and Graph Options link. Select to view Budget figures, Actual figures, or any combination of both Budget and Actual figures.

NOTE: You do not need to change the Column and Graph options for each account. Once they are changed while viewing one account, they display when viewing other accounts.

8. When you are finished entering the budget figures for one account, click the Next button to move to the following account.

9. If you have an account with an Annual budget, enter the amount in the Annual Amount field.

10. (optional) Documents such as a Budget Request Form or other files can be attached to a budget. To do this, click the Attachments tab and then click the Add New Attachment link.

11. Select or scan an attachment, then click OK.

12. You can also add a Note to your budget. Click the Note tab and enter your note in the box.

13. Click the Next button to enter budget figures for the following account or click the Done button to save your changes and return to the Budget Information page.

14. From the Budget Information page, hover over the Graph icon to view a Budget vs. Actual comparison graph for that account.

15. Click on the History Icon to view up to 4 years of Budget, Actual, and Variance figures on a grid.

16. The columns that display on the Account History grid can be modified by clicking the Account History Column Options link. Select to view Current and Prior years' Budget, Actual, or Variance (dollar or percent) figures by dragging and dropping the column names to the Selected Options box. When you are finished, click the Apply button to save your changes.

17. One other feature to know about on the Budget Grid is the ability to update your Annual Budget by clicking the Current Budget amount link. This displays an entry window that lets you quickly change the annual budget. Click the Update button after making your change.

18. Variable Budget accounts allow you to print a percentage of the budget when running the Budgeted Financial Statement report. You can mark an account as being a Variable Budget by clicking the check box in the VB (Variable Budget) column.

19. Another feature of the Budget Grid is the ability to view a Budget Note by hovering over the Note icon.

 

Export/Import Budget

The last part of this tutorial guides you through exporting a portion of your budget to a spreadsheet and then importing it back into your General Ledger after making changes.

 3 Common mistakes when importing a budget:

• Importing the budget to the wrong year
• Not entering income accounts as a credit using the minus key in Excel
• Adding accounts to the Excel budget that have not been added to your Chart of Accounts

1. From the Budget Information page, click the Import/Export Budget button in the lower right-hand corner.

2. Select the Levels (Funds, Departments, etc.) that you would like to export.

3. Click the Export button. The file "BudgetExport.xlsx" is downloaded.

4. Open the exported file (BudgetExport.xlsx) in Excel or whatever spreadsheet program you have that allows you to edit the latest version of Excel files.

NOTE: If using Excel, you may need to click the Enable Editing button.

5. Enter Periodic (monthly) amounts in each field corresponding to the period name.

NOTE: All budget figures are imported as "by Period" unless the amounts are evenly distributed across periods. In that case, they import as an "Annual" distribution type. Any rounding should be added to the first period. For example: If you enter $34.33 in each period and enter $34.37 to the first period, this account imports as an Annual budget of $412.

6. Be sure to save your changes.

7. From the Import/Export page, click the Choose File button on the right-hand side of the page.

8. Verify that the selected file is correct, then click the Import button.

9. The Import Budget window appears and allows you to close if you do not want to import. Click the Import Budget button to import and overwrite the budget figures for the Fiscal Year you are working in.

10. A notification message appears when your budget is finished importing.

11. Set your Filters to view a specific department or account range, then click the Search button.

12. Review your accounts and make changes as appropriate.

Updated December 16, 2025 22:11