File - GL Accounts - Budgets (v2.8)

You use the Account File Update screen – Budgets tab to maintain financial year budgets for a specific account.

Technical Tip This tab is only enabled if your company is not using T accounts (i.e. the Enable T Accounts field on the General Ledger Setup screen must be set to No - refer to "Edit - General Ledger Config - General Ledger Setup").

In MGL, there are two different ways of entering budget information against accounts. This section tells you how to enter budget information manually – that is, you call up each account and then apply budget details directly to the account. The second way is using a budget matrix.

Reference For information on maintaining budgets using a budget matrix, refer to "File - Budget".

You can have four separate budgets (each for 24 months) for each account. The budgets are called Budget 1, Budget 2, Budget 3 and Budget 4. When running financial reports, e.g. the Profit & Loss Report, Micronet prompts you to choose a budget option for that report.

Usually a business decides on its budget for the coming financial year during May/June. The initial budget is set in Budget 1. However, conditions may change and a revised budget can be set – Budget 2, Budget 3, up to Budget 4.

Various recipients of the Profit & Loss Report can have their departmental Income and Expense Report compared against either the Initial Budget, the Revised Budget, or an Adjusted Forecast.

To enter budgets for a GL account:

1. Add a new GL account or open an existing one.

Refer to "Adding a New GL Account" or "Updating a GL Account".

2. Select the Budgets tab.

Micronet displays the Account File Update screen – Budgets tab.

3. If you want to:

• add a budget for the GL account, select the Add button
• insert a budget for the GL account, select the line below where you want the budget inserted then select the Insert button
• delete a budget for a GL account, select the line then select the Delete button
• edit a budget for a GL account, double click on a budget or select a budget then press Enter.

If you selected to add, insert or edit a budget, Micronet displays the Edit Sub Account screen.

4. Select the Starting Period for the budget.

The period you select must be at the start of a financial year.

5. Select EDIT | BUDGETS and the number of the budget you want to add or change (1, 2, 3, or 4).

Micronet displays the Edit Sub Account Budget Set screen for the budget you selected.

6. Use one of the following methods of entering budget data:

• Enter the budget amount for each month in dollars as required.

Warning Always enter credit balances (income amounts) as negative amounts in the budget set.

• Select EDIT | YEARLY BUDGET – enter a total annual budget amount in dollars and select Accept. Micronet spreads the amount evenly over the 12 months.

Yearly Budget

• Select EDIT | MARKUP METHOD – enter an initial amount to which a markup percentage will be applied each month, then select Accept. Micronet applies the markup percentage to the figure you enter as the first month’s budget, and compounds by that percentage for each following month. The markup percentage is as set in the Budget Matrix field on the Account File Update screen - GL Account tab.

Starting Amount

• Select EDIT | CURRENT BALANCE METHOD – Micronet divides the YTD balance in the GL account by the number of months with transactions to calculate a standard monthly budget amount in dollars. If a Budget Matrix is set on the Account File Update screen - GL Account tab, these amounts will be marked up by the appropriate markup percentage.

7. When you have finished entering budgets for each month on the Edit Sub Account Budget Set screen, select the Accept button.

Micronet redisplays the Edit Sub Account screen so you can add budgets for another financial year.

8. When you have finished adding budgets, select the Cancel button.

Micronet redisplays the Account File Update screen – Budgets tab showing all the budgets for this GL account.

9. Select FILE | SAVE.