How to create next year's budget using the export/import method
Go into Ledger & Payables → Process → Budget Entry → .... Budget (where ... stands for either Current, Next Year or Next Year +1) The example here will show Next Year's Budget but they all work essentially the same.
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Export the full budget or only a portion of the budget using filters.
- Once you have selected which accounts you want to export, click the Export button at the bottom of the screen.
- Once you have selected which accounts you want to export, click the Export button at the bottom of the screen.
- Update the numbers in the spreadsheet. You may not edit or remove any gray lines from an exported Budget Spreadsheet. You must leave all gray cells alone. If you change the gray cells, the Budget will not import.
- Import the Budget: Process → Import Processes → Import Budget
- Before importing, you must save your Budget Workbook in an Excel Workbook format (xlsx Workbook).
- Importing the budget will overwrite all existing values for all accounts listed on the spreadsheet for the budget year you originally exported.
- If you are in the 2018-2019 year and export the Next Year budget, 2019-2020, then run End of Year it will update the Current Year Budget because that is now the 2019-2020 year. Click here for a visual.
How closing the year affects the import of the budget you exported beforehand
Key
- For ease of understanding what Current Year, Next Year and Next Year +1 mean, please refer to the following and replace it with your own information.
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For this article, we will use January 2018 as the current open accounting month. This will generate the following:
Example of exporting the Next Year budget, then running end-of-year, then importing that “Next Year” budget back in:
Preview:
- Current Year was 2018; exported next year (2019); update the info in excel; close year so the current year is now 2019; import
- Program knows that the exported spreadsheet was 2019; when import is used, it imports to current year because current year is 2019.
Detailed example:
- Enter the 2019 (Calendar) / 2018-2019 (Fiscal) budget information using the Next Year budget entry option (export).
- After filling in the excel information AND running End of Year, you will use the normal Import budget. When you try to look up the budget through the Budget Entry screen, you will need to look under Current Year budget as 2019 (Calendar) or 2018-2019 (Fiscal) will now be your current year.
- The program is smart enough to understand what the year span is in relation to Current, Next and Next +1.
NOTE: if you export the Current Year budget and then run End of Year and then import that budget it will import for the year you just closed or Last Year. As you can see there is no option to pull up the Last Year budget entry window. You can still, however, see last year's budget information on reports such as the Statement of Activities by including the appropriate columns and dates on the report.
Related Articles
Budget: About Budget Entry (FAQ)
Budget Entry: (Part I) Enter, Export & Import (Videos)
Updated