Budget Management

IIFS/Budget Management contains functions for entering budget versions, allocations keys, recalculation rules, and budget values. The budget values can be used for comparison with outcomes in analyses and reports and via report templates in IFS/Report Generator.

IFS/Budget Management also provides support for the process to build the budget version values. This is done by using budget templates that are connected to a defined budget process. The progress and values of a budget process can be analyzed using analyses relating to Budget Structure or via IFS/Business Analytics.

IFS/Business Reporter can be used to create and analyze information based on the budget period amounts available in IFS Applications. For more information refer About Information Sources in IFS Business Reporter.

You are required to do the following before entering a new budget version or a budget template in a budget process:

• Verify that the accounting periods concerned are open for use. This is done in the Accounting Periods window. 
• Check the code parts that the company is using. This is done in the Define Code String window.
• Check that the accounts used for the budget values exist. This is done in the Accounts windows. An account can be defined only for budget values and not for transactions posted to the General Ledger.
• Check whether the required code part values (e.g. cost center) exist. This is done in the Code Part Values window.
• Check the code part requirements in the Account/Budget Code Part Demands tab. The user can enter information only for code parts with either Can or Mandatory as the requirement.

Budget Version and Budget Values

 Following methods can be used to enter budget version values.

• Copying budget values from an existing budget version
• Initiating budget values from balances in the General Ledger
• Manually entering budget values per year and then allocating them
• Manually entering budget values per period

First, a budget version should be entered in the Budget Versions window If the budget version you want to enter resembles an existing version, this existing version can be copied either entirely or partially in order to create an initial budget. The copied budget values can either replace existing budget values or be added to existing budget values.

A user can export a budget version and its values to a file in order to edit them in a PC-tool, e.g., Microsoft Excel. Once the exported values have been edited, they can then be imported back into the budget version.

The user can initiate the start values from year or period balances in the general ledger or a combination of balances and budget values.

There are two different ways of entering the budget values manually. You can enter them in the Budget Year Amount window, then allocate the entered annual values to the period budget. You can also enter the values directly in the Budget Period Amount window. These two methods can be combined. When entering budget values manually, you can use the Fixed Code String right mouse button option to facilitate the entry. This can be used in both Budget Year Amount and Budget Period Amount windows.

A user can allocate the year budget values by entering information about the allocation key in the Budget Allocation Keys window if appropriate. If no allocation key is entered, the annual values are allocated evenly to the periods defined for the accounting year or to specific periods that are defined in the Period From and Period To fields.

A recalculation of existing budget values can be done by using recalculation rules. The rules are specified per code string with a percentage for increase/reduction.

If the budget values are entered using the Budget Process functionality they can be loaded into a budget version.

Budget Process and Budget Template Values

The following steps are used to create a new budget process and to enter budget values.

 In order to enter budget values within a budget process, one or more budget templates should be defined and connected to the budget process.

A budget process administrator creates the budget templates for the relevant code string. Users are assigned Approver and/or Responsible user roles in the Budget User Roles window depending on who should do what.

The budget templates are then set to the Submitted state enabling users with the Responsible role to provide budget values. Once the budget values are provided, the status of the budget template can be changed to Awaiting Approval. The approver of the template can then approve or reject the entries submitted.

You can enter a budget structure with approval requirements in order to monitor a budget process. Alternatively, reports can be created in IFS/Business Reporter to monitor the aggregated values of a budget process as well as to check the frequency with which budget template due dates are met, values by budget template status, etc.

Once the budget process is complete it can then be loaded into a budget version.

For more detailed information, refer to Budget Process.