Budgets

The Budgets feature lets you plan spending across accounts on a monthly basis, then track actual spending against those targets. Budgets follow a lifecycle from draft to active to closed, and each budget contains individual budget lines that allocate amounts per account per month.

List View

The Budgets table displays these columns: Budget Name, Fiscal Year, Start Date, End Date, and Status. The table supports search, advanced filters, and saved views. Each row has an edit pencil icon (hover) and a three-dot (⋮) action menu.

Creating a Budget

Click + New Budget in the top-right corner to open the side panel form with these fields:

• Budget Name (required) — A descriptive label for the budget (e.g., "FY2026 Operating Budget" or "Q1 2026 Marketing Budget").

• Fiscal Year (required) — The fiscal year this budget belongs to. Defaults to the current year.

• Start Date (required) — The budget period's start date (date picker).

• End Date (required) — The budget period's end date (date picker).

• Description — Optional free-text notes explaining the budget's purpose, assumptions, or scope.

Click Create to save. The budget is created in draft status and you are taken to the detail page to add budget lines.

Budget Detail Page

Navigating to a budget (by clicking the row or going to /accounting/budgets/{id}) opens the detail view with several sections:

Header

The top of the page shows the budget name, fiscal year, and date range (e.g., "FY 2026 · January 1, 2026 — December 31, 2026"). A status badge appears in the top-right corner (e.g., "draft"). A back arrow (‹) returns you to the list view.

Summary Cards

Three summary cards display key metrics at a glance:

• Total Budget — The sum of all budget line allocations across all accounts and months.

• Accounts Allocated — The number of Chart of Accounts entries that have budget lines assigned.

• Status — The current budget status (draft, active, or closed).

Budget Allocations

This is the core section of the detail page. It contains a monthly allocation grid with the heading "Allocate budget amounts per account for each month."

The table columns are: ACCOUNT, JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC, and ANNUAL. Each budget line occupies one row showing the account name (in "CODE — Name" format, e.g., "COA-5200 — Rent Expense"), the allocated amount for each month, and an auto-calculated annual total.

At the bottom of the table, a Total row sums all lines for each month and the annual column, giving you a complete picture of planned spending.

Each budget line row has two action icons on the right: an Edit (pencil) icon to modify the line's monthly allocations, and a Delete (red trash) icon to remove the line entirely.

A + Add Line button in the top-right corner of this section opens the Add Budget Line modal.

When no lines exist, the table shows: "No budget lines yet. Click 'Add Line' to allocate budget to accounts."

Adding a Budget Line

Click + Add Line to open the "Add Budget Line" modal. This modal contains:

• Account (required) — A searchable dropdown listing all Chart of Accounts entries in "CODE — Name" format (e.g., "COA-5200 — Rent Expense"). Select the account you want to budget for.

• Monthly amount fields — Twelve numeric input fields, one for each month (Jan through Dec), each defaulting to 0. Enter the planned spending for that account in each month.

• Annual Total — An auto-calculated read-only field that sums all twelve monthly values as you type.

• Distribute Evenly — A convenience button with the instruction: "Enter annual total in Jan, then click to split across all months." To use it, enter the full annual budget amount in the January field, then click Distribute Evenly. The system divides that total by 12 and fills each month with an equal share. For example, entering 36,000 in January and clicking Distribute Evenly sets each month to 3,000.

Click Add Line to save the budget line. The detail page updates immediately — the line appears in the allocations table, and the summary cards (Total Budget, Accounts Allocated) refresh to reflect the new totals.

You can add multiple budget lines to a single budget, each for a different account. This lets you plan spending across all your expense categories within one budget.

Editing a Budget Line

Click the Edit (pencil) icon on any budget line row to reopen the modal with that line's current values pre-filled. Adjust any monthly amounts as needed and save. The Annual Total and summary cards update accordingly.

Deleting a Budget Line

Click the Delete (red trash) icon on a budget line row to remove it. This reduces the Total Budget and Accounts Allocated counts.

Budget Status Lifecycle

Budgets follow a three-stage lifecycle:

1. Draft — The initial status when a budget is created. In draft status, you can freely add, edit, and remove budget lines. Use this stage to build and refine your spending plan.

2. Active — When the budget is finalized and ready for tracking. Activate a budget using the Activate Budget action. Once active, the budget is used as the baseline for Budget vs. Actual comparisons in reports.

3. Closed — When the budget period has ended or the budget is no longer in use. Close a budget using the Close Budget action. Closed budgets remain available for historical reporting but are no longer actively tracked.

Both the Activate Budget and Close Budget actions prompt a confirmation dialog before proceeding.

Budget vs. Actual Reporting

Once budgets are created and activated, you can monitor performance through the Budget vs. Actual report (available under Accounting → Reports). This report compares each budget line's planned monthly amounts against actual spending recorded in the system (from expenses, vendor bills, and other transactions posted to the same accounts). The report shows variances as both absolute amounts and percentages, helping you identify over- or under-spending by account and by month.

Tips for Effective Budgeting

When setting up budgets, consider creating separate budgets for different purposes — for example, an annual operating budget covering all expense categories, and quarterly marketing budgets for campaign-specific planning. Use the Distribute Evenly feature for accounts with consistent monthly costs (rent, subscriptions), and manually adjust months where you expect seasonal variation (utilities, marketing spend around product launches). Activating a budget locks in your plan for comparison, so finalize your line items before changing the status from draft to active.