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Budgets and Forecasts · Track 1 · Tutorial 2 of 3

Set the plan’s opening balances

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A budget balance sheet has to start from somewhere before its own movements are added. You choose, year by year, which position each budget year opens from.

You will needAdministrator access to Your Group. Budget & Forecast Input set, as in Choose where plans are entered.
By the endThe 2027 budget opening from the 2026 forecast’s year end.

1Choose the source for each year

Last actual YTDThe actual balances.
Forecast year endThe forecast’s position at the year end. It needs a forecast that reached that year end.
Last budget closeThe previous year’s budget at its close. It needs a budget for the year before.

Whichever you choose, it is read at the day before the budget year starts — for a 2027 budget, 31 December 2026. In the running example the reporting month is Oct-2026 and the forecast runs to December, so the 2027 budget opens from Forecast year end.

2Set it

  1. Select Your Group, and open Settings → Organisation Settings → Organisation Details.
  2. In the Budget Opening Balances row, click the edit icon.
  3. In Budget opening balances, choose the Budget year 2027, and in Opening balances from choose Forecast year end.
  4. Click Confirm.
Organisation Details with Budget and Forecast Input set to Entity level only, and Budget Opening Balances listing 2026 Last actual YTD, 2027 Forecast year end and 2028 Last actual YTD with an edit icon; beside it the Budget opening balances dialog with Budget year 2027, Opening balances from Forecast year end, and Confirm
The row (1), the year (2), its source (3), and Confirm (4).

The row lists the current year and the next two, and any other year already set. Set and confirm each year you budget, one at a time, even when the row already shows the source you want.

3Check the opening

  1. Open Forecast → Balance Sheet for Your Group, and note the December 2026 balances.
  2. Open Budget → Balance Sheet, and choose 2027.

Check

Each Jan-2027 budget balance is the forecast’s December 2026 balance plus January’s budget movement on that account.

4If something goes wrong

What you seeWhat to do
The 2027 budget opens from nothingThe source has no figures at 31 December 2026: Forecast year end needs a forecast that runs to December 2026. Complete the forecast, or choose another source.
The budget opens from the wrong positionOpen the dialog, choose the year, and check the source. Click Confirm for that year.
There is no edit icon in the rowOnly an Administrator can change the source.

Want more detail? See the documentation

Entering Budget & Forecast Data Organisation Detail
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