G/L Budgets in Business Central
 

G/L budgets in Business Central allow users to create budgets based on a mix of accounting dimensions including funds, departments, and functions.

Creating a Budget

1. Navigate to Finance>G/L Budgets
   
2. Select +New
   
3. Fill in budget name, description, and assign dimensions if applicable. Choose back when complete.
   
4. Select the budget name to open the budget.
   
5. The General Information section controls how the budget matrix is arranged. Typically, Show as Lines is G/L Account, Show as Columns is Period, View by is Month, and Rounding Factor is None.
   
6. The Filters section controls the totaling of the figures in the budget matrix. The Date filter defaults to the current fiscal year but should be updated to period being budgeted.
   
7. The Budget Matrix displays the budgeted amounts by account and by month. This can be exported using the Share icon. Also in the upper left, the Focus Mode icon expands the grid.
   

1. Budgeted amounts are entered into the matrix for the appliable account in the month that revenue or expense is budgeted to take place. Revenues should be entered as credit values (negative numbers). Expenses should be entered as debit values (positive numbers). The Budget Amount column is the sum of all the months in the filtered timeframe.
   
2. To budget by fund, department, or function, set dimension values and choose a Budgeted Amount.
   
3. The monthly budgeted amounts are displayed. Select Edit List.
   
4. Fund, Department, or Function can be appended to each monthly figure.
   
5. Monthly figures can be split across multiple dimensions by adding additional lines for the same month.
   

1. Instead of manually entering the budget amounts, the budget can be set up and imported from Excel. From the Budget record select Process > Export to Excel.
   
2. The Options section controls the Excel budget template layout. Standard layout uses a Start Date equal to the start of the fiscal year, the Number of Periods is 12, the Period Length is one month (1M). Add Column Dimensions to set fund, department, or function filters to the template. Start by selecting the Column Dimensions ellipsis.
   
3. Select the applicable dimensions needed for your organization’s budget.
   
4. The Filters section controls the totaling of the figures exported to Excel. It is recommended to add an account filter to display only revenue and expense accounts. Select OK when complete.
   
5. An Excel template is exported and can be opened in Excel locally. The exported Excel template should not be altered. Budgeted amounts are entered into the matrix for the appliable account in the month that revenue or expense is budgeted to take place. Revenues should be entered as credit values (negative numbers). Expenses should be entered as debit values (positive numbers).
   
6. Dimension values set on each line will be applied to all the monthly figures.
   
7. If an account needs to be split across multiple dimensions the line can be duplicated with a different dimension for each line. Save the Excel file when complete.
   
8. To reimport the saved Excel file, from the G/L Budget record choose Process > Import from Excel.
   
9. There are two options for importing the entries:
   1. Replace entries – Updates the budget figures currently saved in the budget to match the final number being imported.
   2. Add entries – Keeps the budget figures currently saved in the budget and adds the imported entries to the budget.
      
10. Drag the saved Excel to the upload box or manually navigate to the file through file explorer.
    
11. A prompt will appear asking to confirm the replacement or addition of entries.
    
12. A confirmation will appear displaying the number of entries added.
    
13. The Budget Matrix in Business Central will display the figures imported.
    
14. Selecting the Budgeted Amount will show the individual entries where the dimensions can be viewed.
    

Budget report

1. To view the Budget to Actual report navigate to Reports > Financial Reports.
   
2. Open the Budget to Actual report by choosing its name.
   
3. In the Options section set View by to Day and enter a date filter for the desired budgeting period.
   
4. In the Dimensions section choose your budget in the G/L Budget filter. Enter the applicable dimensions to filter the Actual figures. For example, if your budget is based on the operating fund, select that single fun in the Fund Filter.
   
5. The figures in the financial report will be updated based on options and dimensions selected. The values can be refreshed by choosing Process > Recalculate.
   
6. The row and column layout of the report can be updated selecting Definitions and then Row definition or Column definition.
   
7. The report can be exported to Excel choosing Export to Excel > Create New Document.
   
8. A pdf report can be printed by choosing Process > Print.
   
    

For a video tutorial of this topic, see also our support webinar recording of Creating Budgets in Business Central.