Budget accounts

Budget accounts let you monitor orders and payments against budget allocations, and therefore keep track of whether you are under- or over-spending.

From the Records menu you can access the Budget records area; on the Budget accounts tab you can:

• Find and view budget accounts
• Create a budget account
• Edit a budget account
• Delete a budget account
• View a breakdown of the details
• View a budget account's profile

To find and view budget accounts

1. From the Records menu choose Budget records.
   The Budget records window is displayed, with the Budget accounts tab selected. Under Budget account entries, the available accounts are listed.
   
   
2. To find the account you want, either:
   • Scroll through the list.
   • In the Quick search box, enter all or part of the account Code or Description and click Find .
     If you enter at least two characters, Arbor Finance will autosearch after a second or two.
   • To search by Budget Heading, Budget Group, Status (Active/Inactive) or Default Code (Yes/No), click Advanced.  
     Enter the search criteria you want to use and click Search. (In a multiple search you can remove individual criteria by clicking , and reset the search by clicking Clear)
     
     
3. Click on the account you want, to select it.
   Information for this budget is displayed in the right panes, under Budget account definition and Details.
4. To see the underlying information, click .

To create a budget account

Before you create budget accounts, you should set up your budget headings, budget groups and profile types.

1. In the Budget Accounts window, click.
2. Under Budget account definition, enter details for the new budget account in the fields in green type:
   
   
   
   
   
   • The Budget code is mandatory. Enter a code for this account (for naming advice see Naming your records).
   • Enter a short Description for this account.
   • From the Budget heading drop-down box, select the correct budget heading for this account, if required. 
   • Use the Budget group search box to locate and select the correct budget group for this account, if required.
   • To specify a default income analysis for this account (optional), use the Inc. default analysis search box to locate and select it.
   • To specify a default expenditure analysis for this account (optional), use the Exp. default analysis search box to locate and select it.
   • Choose the Status of this account – Active or Inactive.
   • Choose whether to apply a Default code for this account. This can save time if you use one code far more than the others.
   • Analysis codes linked allows you to link analysis codes to your budget code to ensure that you only use the appropriate analysis code when choosing the budget code.
     
     
   • To link the Analysis codes to the budget code click the word link.
   • The add the codes from the left side to the right to link by selecting a code and then clicking Add.
   • To remove the code highlight it then click Remove.
   • All columns in the Analysis list are sortable
3. Click Save (or Cancel).

To edit a budget account

1. In the Budget Accounts window, select the required account and click Edit.
   The editable fields are shown in green type.
2. Make any changes you require to the Budget account definition fields.
3. In the Details area, enter a % Threshold warning value if required.
   If this budget threshold is reached when a user enters a transaction, a warning message will be displayed. The user must then choose either to confirm the transaction or cancel it.
4. Click Save (or Cancel).
   

It is not possible to edit a budget account code if transactions have been entered against it, until 2 Year Ends have been run.

To delete a budget account

1. In the Budget Accounts window, select the required account.
2. Click Delete and then Yes to confirm.

Once any transaction has been entered against a budget account, it is not possible to delete or edit the account until it has been unused for two full financial years and there are no outstanding cheques or deposits.

To view a breakdown of the details

1. In the Budget Accounts window, select the required account.
2. Under Budget account details, click the Drill down icon to view a breakdown of your chosen detail. Note that on clicking the icon for the balance Balance remaining report, a pop-up is displayed. Select the options you would like included in the report.
3. A report is opened in the Report viewer, from where it can be printed or exported.

To view a budget account's profile

1. In the Budget Accounts window, select the required account and click the Profile icon.
2. A 'Profile details' pop-up is displayed, showing the current monthly allocation for this budget. 
3. Click  to close the pop-up.

See also Budget allocations.