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Budget Management

This guide explains how Budget Management works in Kezi. Whether you're a financial planner or a business owner, this tool helps you set targets and track your performance against them.

What is Budget Management?

Think of a Budget as your financial roadmap. It allows you to set targets for income (like sales goals) or limits for expenses (like a marketing budget) over a specific period.

Why does this matter?

  1. Control: Keep spending in check.
  2. Goals: Set clear targets for your sales team.
  3. Insight: Compare what you planned to happen with what actually happened.

Where to Find It

Navigate to: Accounting → Budgets.

You'll see a list of all your budgets, showing their status and period.

💡 Tip: Look for the Help button in the top-right corner—it opens this guide!

Creating a Budget

Let's walk through creating a new budget step by step.

Step 1: Start Fresh

Navigate to Accounting → Budgets and click Create Budget.

You'll see a form with these fields:

Field What to Enter Example
Name A descriptive name for your budget "Sales Budget 2026" or "IT Expenses Q1"
Responsible The person in charge of this budget "John Doe"
Period The Start and End dates Jan 1, 2026 - Dec 31, 2026
Company The company this budget belongs to My Company

Step 2: Add Budget Lines

This is where you define the details. Each line targets a specific account.

  1. Click Add Line.
  2. Budgetary Position: Select the General Accounts (e.g., "Product Sales") you want to track.
  3. Analytic Account: (Optional) Link to an analytic account (e.g., "Project A" or "Department X") for more granular tracking.
  4. Planned Amount: Enter your target amount.
  5. Practical Amount: This is calculated automatically based on your actual accounting entries.
  6. Achievement: Shows your progress as a percentage.

Step 3: Confirm the Budget

Once you're happy with your plan, click Confirm. This makes the budget official and allows you to start tracking performance.

Monitoring Performance

The real power of budgeting comes from tracking your progress.

Planned vs. Practical

  • Planned Amount: What you hoped to achieve.
  • Practical Amount: What actually happened (based on posted journal entries).
  • Theoretical Amount: Where you should be right now based on how much time has passed.

Example Scenario: Marketing Budget

The situation: You set a budget of $12,000 for "Marketing Expenses" for the year (Jan - Dec).

  1. Plan: You create a budget line for the "Marketing" account with a Planned Amount of $12,000.
  2. Action: In January, you receive a vendor bill for $1,000 for ad placement and post it.
  3. Result:
    • Planned: $12,000 (Total for year)
    • Practical: $1,000 (Spent so far)
    • Achievement: 8.3%

If it's only January, you're on track! If it's December and you've only spent $1,000, you might have extra budget left over.

Best Practices

📅 Period Setup

  • Match Fiscal Years: Align your budgets with your company's fiscal year for easier reporting.
  • Quarterly Reviews: Don't wait until year-end. Review your achievement percentage every quarter.

🎯 Accuracy

  • Use Analytic Accounts: Budgets are most powerful when combined with Analytic Accounts (e.g., budgeting per specific project).
  • Realistic Targets: Set achievable goals based on historical data.

Troubleshooting

Q: Why is my "Practical Amount" zero?

A: Check the following:

  1. Posted Entries: Only posted journal entries count towards the practical amount.
  2. Correct Account: Did you book the expense to the exact account defined in your Budgetary Position?
  3. Date Range: Is the entry date within the budget's Start and End dates?

Q: Can I edit a budget after confirming?

A: Generally, running budgets should be locked to preserve the plan. However, depending on your permissions, you may be able to reset it to draft to make changes.