How to Create and Manage Budgets and Compare Estimates to Actuals

How to Use Budget Management Feature in Qoyod

The Budget Management feature in Qoyod is a monitoring tool that helps you compare estimated values (budgets) with actual values, to improve financial planning and performance tracking, without preventing transaction creation or issuing alerts when budget is exceeded.

First: What Does Budget Management Do in Qoyod?

Before you start, it’s important to clarify the concept of budgets within the system:

• The budget does not prevent recording expenses or revenues even if the estimated amount is exceeded.

• No automatic alerts are created when the budget is exceeded.

• The budget is used only for comparison and analysis through reports.

• It has no direct accounting impact or accounting entries.

Second: Creating a New Budget

To create a financial budget:

1. Go to Accounting

2. Select Budgets

3. Click Create New Budget

You will see two options:

• Item Budget (currently unavailable)

• Account Budget ← Select this option

Third: Account Budget Data

When creating the budget, the following data is entered:

• Reference
  Automatically created in the format Budget# and can be edited manually.

• Description
  Optional field to clarify the budget purpose.

• Arabic Name
  Required field.

• English Name
  Required field.

• Fiscal Year
  Only the current fiscal year can be selected; previous years cannot be selected.

• Accounts
  You can select any account from the chart of accounts, with all classifications:

  • Assets

  • Liabilities

  • Equity

  • Revenue

  • Expenses

Note: Accounts cannot be added or removed from the budget after creation.

After entering the data, click Save.

Fourth: Entering Budget Values

After saving the budget, you move to its details page to enter the values.

Value Entry Method

• Values are entered manually for each period.

• You cannot enter a single annual amount and have it distributed automatically.

• Values are automatically totaled in a column named Budget Amount.

Period View

From the top of the budget page, you can select:

• Monthly View

• Quarterly View

The columns are updated based on your selection.

Fifth: Import Budget Values via Excel

To simplify data entry, you can use the import feature:

1. From the budget page, click Export

2. Select Export to Excel

3. Fill in the values in the file

4. Save the file

5. Click Import Budget Values

6. Select the file

The values will be updated directly in the budget.

Sixth: Editing the Budget After Creation

The budget can be edited at any time, with two types of edits:

1. Editing Basic Budget Data
   Such as:

• Reference

• Description

• Arabic Name

• English Name

1. Editing Budget Values
   To change monthly or quarterly numbers.

Important Note:

• A new account cannot be added to the budget after creation.

• An account used in the budget cannot be deleted.

Seventh: Where Can I See Budget vs. Actual Comparison?

To review the difference between budget and actual values:

1. Go to Reports

2. Select the Estimated vs. Actual Income Statement report

3. From the Budgets option, select the required budget

The report will display:

• Actual values

• Estimated values (budget)

• The difference for each income statement line item

Very Important Note

If the budget is added only to a specific account (such as electricity expense):

• The estimate for the remaining accounts = zero

• The difference appears based on that

Eighth: Budget-Related Permissions

The Budget Management feature has independent permissions for each role.

To control permissions:

1. Go to Settings

2. Select Users

3. Go to Manage Roles

4. Click Edit next to the required role

5. Under Accounting Management Budgets you can control:

   • Read

   • Create

   • Edit

   • Delete

Ninth: Can I Link Budget to a Project or Branch?

Currently:

• The budget is at the general account level only

• It cannot be customized by project or branch

As an alternative solution:

• You can create separate accounts such as:

  • Electricity Expense, Branch A

  • Electricity Expense, Project X
    Then include these accounts within the budget.

Tenth: Item Budget

The Item Budget option is currently unavailable in the system and will be released later in upcoming updates.

Important Notes

• The feature is available only in the Advanced plan.

• An account used in a budget cannot be deleted from the chart of accounts or subdivided (i.e., a new account cannot be added within it); however, it can be archived only.

• The budget does not affect:

  • Invoice creation

  • Accounting entries

  • Payment or approval

Common Search Phrases

• How do I create a budget in Qoyod?

• Does the budget prevent payment?

• Where can I see the difference between budget and actual?

• Does the budget create accounting entries?

• Can I link the budget to a project?

• How do I edit budget numbers?

• Why does the report show zero estimate for some accounts?