Budget Accounts

Budget Accounts are virtual accounts created exclusively for forecasting. They let you model budget data at a finer level of detail than your chart of accounts — without modifying your accounting software.

Why budget accounts exist

Your GL chart of accounts might have a single "Sales Revenue" account, but for forecasting you might want to model revenue separately by product line, geography, or customer segment. Budget accounts let you:

• Split a single GL account into multiple forecast lines — one revenue account becomes separate forecast lines for each product
• Add new forecast lines for items without a GL account yet — e.g. a product you're planning to launch in Q3
• Map budgets to your reporting structure — budget account values flow through your mappings into the correct reporting lines in reports

Viewing and editing budget accounts

Budget accounts are created automatically when you add rows in modules like Simple Budget, P×Q, and COGS. There is no manual "create" button — go to the relevant module to add a new row.

To view or edit your budget accounts:

1. Go to Forecasts in the sidebar.
2. Click the Budget Accounts tab.
3. Edit the Name or Mapping for any account inline in the table.
4. Click Save to apply your changes.

Using budget accounts in modules

Budget accounts are used in modules like Simple Budget, P×Q, and COGS. When you add a row to one of these modules, you select a budget account.

The module writes all forecast values for that row to the selected budget account. Those values then flow through the mapping into the correct reporting line in your reports.

VAT rates (required for VAT module)

If you use the VAT Cashflow module, each budget account representing a revenue or cost subject to VAT must have a VAT rate assigned. Set the rate in the Budget Accounts tab.

The Validations page shows a warning if any budget accounts are missing a VAT rate.

Budget accounts vs. GL accounts

Aspect	GL Account	Budget Account
Exists in accounting software	Yes	No
Used for actual transactions	Yes	No
Used for budget/forecast values	Optional	Yes
Flows to reports via mapping	Yes	Yes