Account Budget - Budget Management
Detailed budget planning and real-time tracking of actual vs planned spending
The Account Budget module helps businesses create detailed budgets by department, project, account and track actual spending against plan.
The system automatically alerts when exceeding budget, provides detailed analysis reports and supports accurate financial decision-making.
Key Features
Key points
• Budget Planning: Create budgets by account, department, project
• Period Tracking: Track by month, quarter, year
• Actual vs Planned: Compare actual spending with plan
• Budget Alerts: Alert when reaching threshold or exceeding budget
• Multi-level: Total and detailed budgets by level
• Budget Reports: Detailed analysis reports
• Analytic Integration: Integrate with Analytic Accounts
• Approval Workflow: Budget approval process
Budget Planning Process
Steps
1. Create Budget: Go to Accounting → Budgets → New. Name it (e.g., "Budget 2026"), select Period (From/To date).
2. Add Budget Lines: Click Add a line. Select Analytic Account (department/project), Account (expense account), Planned Amount.
3. Spread by month: Click Spread to distribute evenly by month, or enter manually per month if uneven.
4. Submit for approval: Click Submit to send to manager for approval. After Approve, budget takes effect.
5. Track actual: System auto-updates Practical Amount from Journal Entries. View % Achievement for usage rate.
6. Overrun alerts: When Practical > Planned, system alerts. Adjust budget or control spending.
Budget Structure
Components
| Component | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | Total budget for a period | Budget 2026 |
| Budget Line | Detailed budget line | Marketing - Account 641: $50k |
| Analytic Account | Department/project | Marketing Dept, Project X |
| Account | Accounting account | Account 641 (Sales expenses) |
| Planned Amount | Planned amount | $50,000 |
| Practical Amount | Actual spent | $35,000 |
| Achievement % | Achievement rate | 70% ($35k/$50k) |
Budget Reports
Key points
• Budget Analysis: Budget vs actual overview by department
• Budget vs Actual: Detailed comparison per budget line
• Variance Report: Variance analysis (favorable/unfavorable)
• Trend Analysis: Spending trends over time
• Department Summary: Summary by department
• Project Budget: Budget by project
Real-world Scenarios
Key points
• Marketing budget $50k/year: Allocate $4.2k/month, track ad spend, events
• IT budget $20k/quarter: Buy software, equipment, alert at 80%
• Project budget: Each project has own budget, track labor, materials costs
• Department budget: Each dept has operating budget, manage monthly spending