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Budgeting

Budget creation and reporting

Budget Template Creation

The budget creation template assists with drafting your budget and can also be used to aid the process of uploading your budget values into QuickBooks Online. Use the following process to create a budget template in Flash Reports:

  • From the Import/Build Report choose "Financial Planning & Analysis" > "Budgeting" > "Budget Creation Template"

  • Optionally, select a filter dimension if you want to capture a subdivided budget by for example Class values.

  • Select your current year budget. The template will be created using actual values up until the prior month and this budget's values for the remainder of the year.

  • Select your options. Specifically consider selecting the option to include all accounts if you wish to create budget values for accounts that possibly don't have any value currently.

The budget template will be created showing the forecast to the end of the year. The template includes an uplift percentage and default formulas in the budget cells to calculate initial budget values. Monthly averages are also calculated to assist with the budget process. Using Excel functionality, build out your budget model. If you intend uploading the budget values into QuickBooks online, we recommend making limited structural changes to the worksheet.

If you would like to replicate the budget model for a dimension, for example Class values, then use the Flash Reports Explode functionality to replicate the worksheet for each dimension value. The budget worksheets can then be distributed to the responsible person to be populated.

Once the budgets are captured, proceed as follows if you wish to upload the values into QuickBooks online:

  • Make a copy of the workbook (Save As) as the structure will be modified.

  • In the workbook copy, select all cells on the budget worksheet and copy > paste values.

  • Delete all the columns between the account name column and the first budget values column. If you have not modified the worksheet structure, that would mean deleting columns B to Q.

  • In QuickBooks online, follow the process to generate their budget upload template.

  • Now you can copy the account names and budget values and paste them into the QuickBooks budget upload template and then perform the upload in QuickBooks online.

  • Check the totals to ensure that all values were correctly uploaded.

Please note:

  • The QuickBooks budget upload template requires that the account hierarchy is generated by prefixing the account name with spaces. The Budget Creation Template has been adjusted to accommodate this requirement. Flash Reports normally uses Excel indenting to create the hierarchy but for this specific "Budget Creation Template" it uses prefix spaces in order to create the accounts in a way that will support uploading.

  • The QuickBooks budget upload template does not appear to support a situation where you have duplicate account names in QuickBooks. Flash deals with this by using the full account name (including the parent) but the QuickBooks budget upload template does not seem to support this either.

  • Check the uploaded balances carefully as QuickBooks does not appear to report any errors during the upload, it simply skips any rows that it cannot process.

Budget Comparison Reports

Use the available budget comparison reports under the Import/Build Report  > "Financial Planning & Analysis" > "Budgeting" menu, in order to review your budgets.