How To Create Budgets in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Create budgets in Dynamics 365 Business Central – step-by-step guide

Do you want to know how to create financial budgets in Business Central? If so, then this blog post is for you. It explains how to set up general ledger budgets in Business Central, demonstrates how to create budgets manually and shows how to copy and import budgets from Microsoft Excel.

Learning objectives

By the end of this blog, you will be able to:

Create a new general ledger budget.
Enter budget entries manually.
Create budgets by using the Copy Budget function.
Export budgets to Excel.
Import budgets from Excel.

Section One: Introduction – Create Budgets Manually

A budget is an overview of planned expenses and revenues. An important tool for companies, a budget is used in business intelligence to measure the actual financial operation of the business against the forecast.

With the Budget feature in Business Central, you can:

Create multiple budgets for identical time periods.

Create simple or complex budgets by selecting a combination of G/L account, period, two global dimensions, and four budget dimensions.

Copy budgets from previous periods and revise actual figures or budget figures by using an adjustment factor.

Export budgets to and import budgets from Excel.

When you want to start entering a budget, the first step is to create a budget name.

You can set up multiple budgets for identical time periods by creating budgets with separate names on the G/L Budgets page.

When you create a new budget name, you must determine whether you want to use dimensions.

The two global dimensions are available on all budgets.

You can specify four additional budget dimensions on each budget.

You can use budget dimensions to set filters on a budget and add dimension information to budget entries. Budget dimensions let you use dimensions in budgets in the same manner as you would use them when posting sales and purchases.

For example, you can compare the actual sales by region with the budgeted sales by region.

To set up a G/L budget, follow these steps:

Select the Search for Page icon in the top-right corner of the page, enter G/L budgets, and then select the related link.

Select New.

In the Name field, enter a unique identifier for this budget.

In the Description field, enter a short description.

In the Budget Dimension Code field, select the drop-down list and select the relevant dimensions as needed.

You can edit the budget by double-clicking the line or by selecting Edit Budget.

Section Two: How To Copy Budgets

You can spend a lot of time entering budgets manually. To avoid manually entering a new budget, you can use the Copy Budget function to copy from existing G/L budget entries or from G/L entries.

Because you can use options like date change formulas and adjustment factors, the Copy Budget function can save you time when you create budgets for different periods.

To access the Copy Budget function, follow these steps:

Select the Search for Page icon in the top-right corner of the page, enter G/L budgets, and then select the related link.

Select a budget name to open the Budget page.

Select Budget > Copy Budget.

You can use the Copy From area to determine where the copied budget entries come from. The fields within this area are specified based on the selection in the Source field.
- G/L Entry – The budget is based on actual G/L entries for a specified period. When you select G/L Entry, you need to specify:
  - An account range and a date range in the G/L Account No. and Date fields to determine the information to be copied.
  - Whether to include or exclude closing entries in the Closing Entries field.
- G/L Budget Entry – The budget is based on G/L budget entries of an existing budget. When you select G/L Budget Entry, specify:
  - An existing budget name to copy from in the Budget Name field.
  - Account range and a date range in the G/L Account No. and Date fields to filter the information that is copied.
- For both Source options, select the Dimensions field.
  - Select the Selected check box for each dimension to be copied to the new budget entries.
  - Set additional filters for the copying process by defining Dimension Value Filters.
  - In the New Dimension Value Code field determine the new dimension value to be copied to.
Use the Copy To area to specify where the copied budget information is to be sent. The following fields are included in the Copy To area:
- Budget Name – Enter the name of the new budget or select the field to select an existing budget name.
- G/L Account No. – Enter the G/L account number if one or more ledger entries must be copied to one G/L account.

The Apply area includes several calculation options that you can use when you copy budgets:
- Rounding Method – Specify how the new budget entries are rounded.
- Date Change Formula – Enter a formula that calculates the date for the new entries based on the entries that are being copied. For example, enter 1M for the next month.
- Date Compression – Compress the entries that are copied by a selected period to reduce the number of new entries that are created.

Section Three: How To Export and Import Budgets

Business Central provides the option for you to create budgets by using export and import functions.

You can export budgets to Excel by using the Export Budget to Excel batch job. When budgets are exported, you can perform the following tasks:

Use Excel to modify and add to the budget.
Create new budgets based on the exported budget figures.

You can import budgets from Excel by using the Import Budget from Excel batch job. When you import budgets from Excel, you have the following possibilities:

Import previous exported budgets from Business Central in an existing or new budget.
Create new budget entries by replacing existing entries.
Add budget entries to an existing budget.

Before you import a budget in Excel, we recommend that you export a budget from Business Central to obtain the correct format.

The chart of accounts, which G/L budgets are based on, has lines of account type Heading that contain the total of the lines below it. When you export a G/L budget, data on all lines is exported regardless of the account type.

However, data of the account type Heading can’t be imported back in. When you select the Add entries option on the Import Budget from Excel batch job, any values on Heading lines will be ignored. By selecting the Replace entries option, any values that already existed on Heading lines will also be deleted.

How To Master Budgeting for Your Business

Budgeting is one of the most essential and challenging tasks for any business, especially for those that operate with limited resources and face uncertain market conditions. A well-designed and executed budget can help your business plan for the future, allocate resources efficiently, monitor performance, and achieve your strategic goals.