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21. Budgeting, Forecasts and Job Costing
1) Budget Versions
2) Budget Lines
3) Copying a Budget
4) Adjusting a Budget
5) Actuals to Budget
6) Forecast
7) Job Costing
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21.1 Budget Versions
Use menu option Ledger|Budgets|Versions to open the Budget Versions List window.
Click the 'Add New Record' icon in the toolbar to insert a record. Press F3 to open the detail window.
On a new record set the Budget Version and a descriptive text.
To use a Budget Version as comparatives in Financial Reports, set the 'Active Budget' tick.
Set the default 'Budget Phasing' to be applied, for the version, to annual budget amounts.
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21.2 Budget Lines
To construct a budget, click 'Budget Lines' on the Budget Versions detail window.
Individual budget lines are allocated to a combination of Account and Analysis 1/2/3 codes.
Either annual or monthly period amounts can be entered.
Annual amounts are phased over the monthly periods using the default Budget Phasing set for the version.
To enter monthly amounts press F3 to open the monthly input window.
Users can directly enter monthly amounts, or set another Budget Phasing option and then enter an annual amount.
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21.3 Copying a Budget
As numerous Budget Versions can be held, it is possible to copy one budget into another, then make changes to reflect the changed business environment/conditions.
To copy one budget into another, select/navigate to the original Budget Version, then click 'Copy Budget' on the Budget Versions detail window.
Set the Budget Version and Year to receive the copied budget. (The receiving Budget Version must already exist.) Then click OK to copy the Budget Lines from the original version into the receiving version.
When the destination Version/Year contains no Budget Lines, the source Budget Lines are copied straight away.
When the destination Version/Year does contain Budget Lines, a prompt will be issued as to how to proceed:
- Cancel, wrong destination Budget Version/Year selected
- completely Delete the existing Budget Lines in the destination Version/Year before inserting the source Budget Lines
- append/add the source Budget Lines to those that already exist in the destination Version/Year
Once the Budget Lines have been copied, users can manually change the budget in the normal manner.
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21.4 Adjusting a Budget
Having copied Budget Lines into a new version, it is often a requirement to inflate/deflate the budgeted amounts by some percentage or rate. That can be done by selecting/navigating to the Budget Version and then clicking 'Adjust Budget' on the Budget Version detail window.
Set the selection criteria of Account and Analysis 1/2/3 to restrict the budget lines to be adjusted.
When left blank, all budget lines will be adjusted.
Finally, set the percentage increase/decrease required. (To decrease enter a minus sign.)
Click OK to perform the adjustment.
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21.5 Actuals to Budget
In the later periods of a financial year, a budget is often used that is based upon the 'actuals' of the first few periods.
This can be done in Acceptum by clicking 'Actuals > Budget' on the Budget Version detail window.
This opens a dialog on which the user enters opening and closing Trial Balance numbers and periods to set the range of 'actuals' to be used.
On clicking OK, all budget amounts in the set periods are cleared out and 'actual' values are placed into the budget version.
After creating the budget from actuals in this manner, the budget can be adjusted and used in the normal manner.
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21.6 Forecast
Within Acceptum, Forecast data is NOT just another version of a Budget.
Yes, you can compile a Budget and call it a Forecast, or Latest Forecast, but Acceptum uses the term Forecast to denote data that is entered into the application to represent future occuring transactions. These entries are not in the Ledger, but in a separate area. As forecasted actual transactions occur and are entered into the Ledger, the forecast data must be deleted to maintain consistent management reports.
Forecast data can be incorporated into Financial Reports by adding it to Ledger data to produce projected 'Actuals'. This is then compared to either Budget or Prior Year data.
Use menu option Ledger|Forecast to open the Forecast List window.
Click the 'Add New Record' icon in the toolbar to insert a record. Press F3 to open the detail window.
On a new record set the Account, Analysis 1/2/3 and description before setting the amount of the forecast entry.
Balance your entries so that the total is zero. This is not enforced by the application as Acceptum does not wish to restrict the flexibility of this area. However, it is important to ensure that all entries balance to zero in order to retain a properly balanced Balance Sheet when running management and financial reports.
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21.7 Job Costing
To help cost specific Sales Orders, Job Cost/Analysis 3 codes can be created that are related to the customer concerned.
Use menu option Sources|Projects|Job Costing to open the Job Costing List window.
Then on a period by period basis, individual products, employee hours and adhoc account revenue or charges can be quantified and the projected Revenue and Cost accounts assigned.
Pure revenue lines can be created for total revenue amounts or sundry items.
Pure cost lines can be created for specific purchases, set-up costs and overheads.
On completion, the Job Cost can be converted into a Customer Quote and into a 'Budget Version'.
The Budget Version can be recreated at any time should the Job Cost entries be amended.
The Customer Quote can then be used later for invoicing actual quantities and amounts.
The Budget Version, when designated as the 'Active Budget' can be used under Financial Reporting to produce a 'Profit and Loss' statement with filtering of 'Actual' ledger entries allocated to the specific Job for comparison to Budget.
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