Create G/L budgets

Article
11/13/2024

Budgets play an important role in business intelligence. Examples include a financial statement based on financial reports that include budget entries or when analyzing budgeted versus actual amounts in the chart of accounts. To learn more, go to Financial Reporting.

You can create budgets for any given time period. However, most often businesses set up budgets for their fiscal year. You can create multiple budgets for the same period so you can work with multiple budget versions or revisions. You can create budgets for dimensions too, so you can analyze budget variances per dimension. You can work with up to four dimensions in a budget. To learn more, go to Work with Dimensions.

In cost accounting, you work with cost budgets in a similar way. To learn more, go to Creating Cost Budgets.

To create a new G/L budget

Choose the icon, enter G/L Budgets, and then choose the related link.
Choose the Edit List action, then fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.
Choose the Edit Budget action.
At the top of the Budget page, fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

The page shows only entries that contain the budget name you entered in the Budget Name field. Because you just created the budget name, there are no entries that match the filter. Therefore, the page is empty.
To enter an amount, choose the relevant cell in the matrix. The G/L Budget Entries page opens.
Create a new line and fill in the Amount field. Close the G/L Budget Entries page.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 for all amounts in the budget.

Note

On the Filters FastTab, you can filter the budget information by the budget dimensions you set up under the budget name.

Exporting and importing G/L budgets with Excel

You can export data on budget pages to Microsoft Excel for further processing or analysis and then import budget data back in Business Central.

Exporting G/L budgets to Excel

Exporting a G/L budget to an Excel workbook lets you work offline and using Excel's powerful data manipulation features.

To export the budget to Excel, follow these steps:

Open the Budget: Select the budget you want to work on from the list of G/L budgets. Choose the Edit Budget action.
To export to Excel, on the Budget page, choose Export to Excel.
Choose the dimensions and filters you want to include in the export. For example, you might want to filter by specific departments or projects.
To generate the Excel file, choose OK.
Save the exported Excel file to your local drive for further editing.

Editing G/L budgets in Excel

After you export the G/L budget to Excel, you can fill in your budget data. Here's a few tips to be more effective and reduce errors:

Add budget amounts for each combination of dimensions and periods. Ensure that the data is accurate and adheres to the formatting requirements of Business Central. For example, your numbering shouldn't have special characters or formatting.
Take advantage of Excel features such as formulas, data validation, and conditional formatting to streamline data entry and ensure accuracy.
Save the Excel file after you enter the budget data.
Make local copies of your budgets as backups.

Importing G/L budgets to Excel

After you add your budget numbers in a local Excel workbook, the next step is to import it back into Business Central. Do as follows to import the budget from Excel:

Open the Budget: Select the budget you want to work on from the list of G/L budgets. Choose the Edit Budget action.
To import from Excel, on the Budget page, choose Import from Excel.
Choose the Excel file from your local drive. You can choose which budget you're uploading to and whether to add or replace the entries. The Add action adds the entries from Excel to entries that already exist. The Replace action overwrites entries existing entries in the budget.
If everything looks correct, choose OK to complete the import process. Business Central updates the budget with the imported data.

Scenario example: setting budget targets for payroll expenses

You know that the new budgeted salaries cost is going to be 1.200.000 in local currency (LCY). You want to enable the Salaries department to budget for the three specific lines (of the Posting account type) for full-time employees, part-time employees, and temp help. The three lines are grouped under a Salaries heading line.

You enter 1.200.000 on the Heading line, export the budget to Excel, then send it to the Salaries department, telling them to distribute the LCY 1.200.000.

The Salaries department distributes the amount on the three posting accounts. When you import back into the G/L budget, the three accounts are filled in with the new Excel data, summing to LCY 1.200.000, and the Heading line is blank.

Note

The chart of accounts, which general ledger (G/L) budgets are based on, has lines of the account type Heading. These lines contain the total of the lines below it. When you export a G/L budget, you export data on all lines regardless of the account type. However, you can only import data on lines of the Posting account type. Similarly, when you import a G/L budget, any values on Heading lines are deleted. They're deleted to avoid incorrect totals after you import data that was created or edited in Excel.

Tips for effective budget management

Here are some tips for effective budget management:

Regular Updates: Periodically update your G/L budgets to reflect changes in your financial plans and business environment. You can copy any of the budgets and turn them into forecasts.
Version Control: Maintain different versions of your budget to compare actual performance against various scenarios.
Collaboration: Encourage collaboration by involving relevant stakeholders in the budgeting process, ensuring that the budget is comprehensive and realistic.

Contributors

Microsoft maintains this article. The following contributors provided some or all of its contents.

Michelle Serna | Director of ERP systems

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