Creating a Budget

In this article:

• Exploring the Budget Page
• Creating a Budget
• Working with the Spreadsheet

The Budget functionality allows you to create budget spreadsheets for certain time period (for example, a financial year) and link budget amounts to account codes.

Exploring the Budget Page

Use the following icons to create and build your budgets:

	Click this to create a new blank budget spreadsheet.
	Click this to open an existing saved budget.
	Click this icon to import a budget from an Excel sheet. This option requires the correct header format (which can be modified after import).
	Click this to save changes to a budget spreadsheet.
	Click this to save a new copy of the spreadsheet you have changed.
	Click this create and use a variable in the spreadsheet.
	Click this to refresh the page you are working on. Save your changes before using this option.
	Click this to export the current table to Excel. (Even if it only has the date, it will have the correct import layout.)

Creating a Budget

To create a new budget:

1. In Actionstep, go to Accounting > Accounts > Budget. The Budget page appears.
2. Click the New Sheet icon. A small pop-up window appears.
   
3. Enter a Sheet Name (or name of the budget) as well as a Description.
4. Click Submit when you're finished. A table is added.

Working with the Spreadsheet

When you create a new budget, the columns are automatically created for the current financial year (April to March) and each column is linked to real dates. You can change this spreadsheet to fit your specific needs. 

To do this:

1. While viewing your budget spreadsheet, complete any of the following actions:

   To edit the column dates	Click the column date you want to change and choose Set Date.  Enter the new dates in the fields. Click Return to apply the changes.
   To insert or remove columns	Click the column name to the left of where you want to add or remove a column. Select Insert Column or Remove Column.
   To rename a column	Click the column heading you want to change and enter the new name.
   To restore a column name to the previous name	Click the column heading and choose Restore Name.
   To insert a new row	Click the row name that is above where you want the new row and choose Insert Row from the menu that appears.
   To rename a row	Click the row heading and enter the new name.
   To link an account to a row heading	Click a row heading and choose Link Account. Select the account you want linked from the list of accounts that appears. Now, when you run the Budget Variance Report, the budgeted amount will be compared with the actual amount for that account.
   To insert multiple accounts as new rows	Click a row heading and select Insert Account.  Select each account you want to link. Click Submit. A new row is added for each account you selected. Once you select all the accounts you are likely to require and then save and export the Excel file, you will have a workable copy to import as a new budget.
   To insert a value in a cell	Click in the cell and type the numeric value. When finished, click out of the cell or press Tab.
   To change the display format	Click the cell and select Display Format and choose from the list of options: Number, Currency, or Percentage.
   To add a formula to a cell	Click in the call and add the formula reference. Actionstep currently doesn't support formula codes such as SUM. To sum data, enter all cell references to be included, e.g., =A1+B1+C1. Some tips for creating formulas are: Always start a formula with =  Include cell references, e.g. =B2+D9 + add to - subtract by / divide by * multiply by Click out of the cell to accept/calculate the formula Hover mouse over cell to view formula Click in cell to edit formula Use variables (see the next row in this table) for common values used in formulas that may need to change in bulk Cells which contain a formula are displayed in green Cells which contain an invalid formula are displayed in red Cells which contain a non-formula value are displayed in black
   To create a variable	NOTE: A variable is used to define a commonly used value. Then, if the cost changes, you can change its value in the variable and not in every formula. Click the Variable icon. In the pop-up that appears, click New Variable. A new pop-up window appears. Enter a Name and Description for the variable. Enter the Value for the variable.  Click Submit.  Once you've created a variable, you can use it to create a formula. For example: =Flights*2  In this example, the value from the Flights variable (which is 350) is multiplied by 2 which makes the result equal to 700.
   To modify a value (or formula) result by a percentage or value	Click in the cell and choose Modify Data. Choose how you want to adjust the value: To adjust the value by percentage, enter that percentage in the first field. To adjust the value by a specific amount, enter the number in the second field. To enter a negative number, enter - before the number. (For example, to subtract 20, enter -20.) To modify data for multiple cells as once, press Ctrl as you select each cell.
   To restore data to a previous value	Click in the cell and choose Restore Data.
   To clear data from a cell	Click in the cell and choose Clear Data. You can use Restore Data to retrieve it, if needed.
   To load the balance of a linked account from a previous year	Click in the cell and choose Load Balance.  Choose the year whose balance you want to load. The actual balance from that account and timeframe are inserted.  You can load balances in bulk by pressing Ctrl and selecting multiple cells.

2. Click Save to save the budget.