Budgets: Creating a Template & Importing from a Spreadsheet
Budgets: Creating with a Budget Template

Purpose
It’s possible to use this software to create a budget. Once created, the budget can be accessed for use in other financial reports.

The steps involved in budget creation are:

Create departmental budget templates which contain all account numbers and periods a department is responsible for.

Distribute budget templates to department heads and have them update budget balances.

Set, or combine, departmental budget templates into a master budget and post those numbers.

Create a Budget Template
When creating a budget template, include a Budget Cell for each account number and period you’re budgeting for. Technically, Budget Cells are the only cells needed in a budget template. However, usually some method of calculating the budget balance for each Budget Cell is also included.

Note that a budget template runs when opened for modification. In other words, it runs in the Report Designer, not the Report Viewer. This is so users can make changes to budget numbers. For the software to recognize the template as a budget, its report type must be set to Budget in Report Properties. There, you can also lock certain cell types so they’re only editable by the report owner, and set a default date for which the budget runs.

After adding a Budget Cell, its properties are displayed on the Properties Panel.



Definitions
Company: This is the company the budget is being created for. A [Variable] company can be used, but doesn’t make sense for most budgets.

Budget Reference: This field allows you to either enter a budget balance or refer to another cell that contains a budget balance.

Account Number: This is the account number this balance is for. Only a single account number is allowed in this text field. In other words, budgets are created at the account number level. The accounting number entered here can be a posting or non-posting account.

Period: This is the period this budget number is for. It can be set as any period from 1 to 13 or as a Beginning Balance. The period doesn’t include a year. The budget’s year is defined when the budget is posted.

Distribute a Budget Template
Before additional users can make adjustments to a budget template, they need to be given the ability to modify it. This is done via Report Properties. In order to make changes to a report’s group or user rights, you must be either an Admin level user or the report owner. To give modification rights to another user, select the Modify check box next to that user’s name.

When a user who is not the report owner opens a budget template in the Designer, it automatically retrieves balances from the database. It does this so the user can change the numbers in the Budget Cells, if desired.

Set a Budget Template
The Budget Creation dialog box allows you to combine individual budget templates, check combined templates for missing accounts, and save combined templates as a master budget.

Budgets: Importing From a Spreadsheet



Purpose

It’s possible to import an existing spreadsheet-based budget, created using Microsoft Excel or similar, into this software. Once imported, this budget can be accessed for use in other financial reports.



Formatting the Spreadsheet

When importing a budget from an external spreadsheet, the spreadsheet must be specifically constructed in order to import successfully. The sheet must contain one or more GL account numbers, and at least one period of budget numbers for each included account. Each account can optionally include an account description.

The spreadsheet’s extension type must be .xls or .xlsx, and the data on the spreadsheet needs to be arranged similarly to the example below:



All budget balances for an individual month need to be in the same column. For instance, in the example above, all budget balances for January are in column B, all balances for February are in column C, and so on.




Importing the Spreadsheet
To import a spreadsheet-based budget, use the Import Budget function. To begin the process, on the Main Menu, click Budgets in the Maintain group.


The Maintain Budgets menu displays. On this menu, click Import Budget.


The Spreadsheet Selection dialog box displays. This, and subsequent dialog boxes, lead you through the process of importing a spreadsheet.


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