Annual Budget

The Annual Budget module provides the institution with the tools necessary to project, allocate, and monitor financial expectations across all operating General Ledger (GL) accounts over a defined financial year. It features an automated multi-month distribution calculator and robust variance balancing to ensure annual estimates strictly match the sum of monthly allocations.

PURPOSE

  • To establish strict financial tracking and expenditure/revenue targets for a given year.
  • To rapidly divide total annual budget estimates across 12 calendar months automatically.
  • To detect manual input errors by strictly evaluating the total sum of individualized monthly budgets against the declared annual master budget.
  • To generate executive printable reports outlining complete financial year allocations.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

1. Viewing Annual Budgets

  1. Navigate to the Admin Setup module and select Annual budget from the main side menu.
  2. In the top filter area, select the target Financial Year from the dropdown menu.
  3. The system will automatically retrieve and display the Budget Setup data table, detailing the allocations for every GL account configured for that year, grouped dynamically month-by-month.

2. Creating or Updating a Budget Allocation

  1. Click the Add Budget (or use the primary form if inline) to open the Budget Setup modal.
  2. Under Account Name, click the lookup button. This opens the Find General Ledger Account modal.
  3. Double-click or click SELECT on the desired GL account (e.g., Office Supplies Expense). The system will auto-populate the Account Head and Account Name fields.
  4. Enter the total projected amount into the Annual Budget field.
  5. Auto-Distribution: The system will automatically divide the annual amount by 12 and populate the months (January through December) with equal distributions.
  6. Manual Adjustment: You may manually overwrite individual months (e.g., heavier budget allocation in December for holidays). As you type, the bottom Total field will dynamically aggregate.
  7. Validation: Ensure the calculated Total at the bottom exactly matches your overarching Annual Budget at the top. The system will aggressively block saving if a variance exists.
  8. Click the Save button.

3. Recalling and Editing a Budget

  1. In your main dashboard table, locate the GL Account you wish to modify.
  2. Click the blue SELECT button on that row.
  3. The setup modal will open with the previously allocated data in a locked (disabled) state to prevent accidental changes.
  4. Click Edit to unlock the text fields.
  5. Make your budgetary adjustments, ensure your monthly totals balance, and click Save.

4. Generating the Budget Report

  1. To obtain a printable spreadsheet of the full year’s budget pipeline, click the Show Report button on the main dashboard.
  2. A formalized, printable invoice-style report modal will appear, pulling in the institutional logo, current timestamp, and the exact data grid.
  3. Click Print Report to send it directly to your connected printer or save it as a PDF.

KEY NOTES

  • Balancing Act: The system will physically not permit you to save a budget if the sum of January + February... + December does not perfectly match the Annual Budget input.
  • GL Account Restriction: You can only assign one budget row per GL Account per Financial Year. Attempting to add a second will likely prompt an edit/override of the first.
  • Format: All monetary entries utilizing standard thousands separators (,) are automatically handled and normalized by the backend.