Support Troubleshooting - How to Investigate/Troubleshoot Budget Reports Showing Incorrectly

Open the BudAct report. Open the Row Definition used by the report. Review each individual line to determine whether:

• Any specific Fund, Department, or other dimension is filtered on a line-by-line basis
• Any accounts are filtered differently than expected

Repeat the same review for the Column Definition.

Personalize to Expose Hidden Filters:

To make dimension filters easier to identify:

• Open the Row Definition or Column Definition list.
• Select Personalize.
• Add the following fields to the screen:
  • Fund Filter
  • Department Filter
  • Any other Dimension Filter fields present

Review populated filters carefully—filters here override report-level filters.

Run the BudAct report. In the request page, expand Options. Select Show more to display all available filters. Review filters for:

• Fund
• Department
• Any additional dimensions
• Date filters

Confirm the report is:

• Filtering only on expected dimensions
• Using the correct Budget Name

Important: Filters hidden under Show more can cause mismatches even when main filters appear correct.

Go to Reports → Report Setup → Financial Reports. Open the Budget Report in question. Review the assigned Row Definition and Column Definition. Check whether an Analysis View Code is attached.

If an Analysis View Is Attached:

• Open the Analysis View.
• Confirm Include Budget Entries is set to ON.
• If OFF: Turn it ON and update the Analysis View.
• If already ON: Select Update to refresh it.

Open the G/L Budget. Apply date filters that match the report being run. Remove all filters for:

• Fund
• Department
• Other dimensions

Compare totals to the expected report results.

Drill Into Incorrect Accounts:

• Identify an account that is incorrect on the BudAct report.
• Click the blue, hyperlinked budget amount.
• Review the underlying budget entries.
• Confirm whether any lines use dimension sets that are being filtered out by row, column, or report-level filters.

Open the Row Definition used by the budget report. Look for lines that:

• Consolidate multiple G/L accounts into a single row
• Use ranges instead of single accounts

Confirm consolidated lines include the correct accounts and are not unintentionally excluding payroll or other expense accounts.

Use G/L Entries to validate the underlying posted data and determine whether the discrepancy aligns with the Trial Balance or the BudAct report.

Go to Finance → G/L Entries. Apply the following filters:

• Posting Date: Use the same date filters used when running the reports
• G/L Account No.: Use an account you know has a discrepancy

Turn on Analysis Mode. Group rows by:

• Fund
• G/L Account

Review Sum (Amount). Compare the summed amount to:

• The Trial Balance – Budget report
• The BudAct report

Whichever report matches the Sum (Amount) is pulling the correct data. This helps identify whether the issue is with the Trial Balance configuration or with the BudAct report and its supporting setup (row/column definitions or analysis view).

Go to Finance → General Ledger Setup. Review the Fiscal Year Start Date. If the fiscal year start date is not January 1 (for example, 7/1):

• Open the Column Definition used by the budget report.
• Review the Budget YTD and Actual YTD columns.
• Check the Column Type for those columns:
  • If the Column Type is set to YTD (Year to Date), change it to Net Change.

 If a client’s fiscal year does not align with the calendar year, any YTD-based columns in financial reports should be reviewed as a first-line troubleshooting step. Budget and actual discrepancies that appear to span only certain months—especially around fiscal year boundaries—are often traced back to YTD column behavior rather than data issues.

Business Central calculates YTD values based on the calendar year, not the fiscal year. If a fiscal year starts mid-calendar year, YTD columns can calculate incorrect totals, which may cause budget or actual discrepancies even when data and filters are correct.

Using Net Change ensures the column respects the report date filters rather than calendar-year-based YTD logic.

If discrepancies persist:

• Open the Analysis View.
• Select Reset.
• Select Update.

Ensure "Include Budget Entries" is still turned ON before clicking 'Update'.

This ensures the analysis view reflects the most current budget data and dimension setup.

Important: Updating or resetting an analysis view can take a long time (potentially hours) depending on the number of funds and data volume. While the analysis view is updating, clients may encounter deadlocking errors when sending items to accounting. These errors will need to be resolved if reported.

Open the Analysis View. Review Date Compression settings. Ensure compression is set to:

• Day or Month

Avoid using Quarter compression for detailed budget reporting, as it can cause mismatches between reports.

If Trial Balance – Budget matches G/L Budget Entries but BudAct does not, the issue is almost always related to:

• Row/column definition filters
• Analysis view configuration
• Dimension filtering at a non-obvious level

Always validate analysis views before assuming data issues.