How to Create a Budget in QuickBooks (Desktop and Online)

Nov 5, 2020

—

by

You can smoothly perform various budget tasks like the ease of reviewing, editing, creating, and deleting. You can run financial reports in QuickBooks to compare sales and expenses regarding your Budget for future use. Learn how you can create a budget in QuickBooks (Desktop & Online) in just a few minutes. QuickBooks permits you to create budget management of your accounting data in a streamlined way.

Setting up a budget helps you in decision-making. In Budgeting, you initially need to write the budget amount for the preferred expense, income, or balance sheet accounts you have chosen to monitor. After entering the amount, you can easily track the actual amount and compare it with the budgeted amount through the effective reports. Financial years may contain several Budgets; however, the fiscal year comprises only one Budget.

Table of Contents

Benefits of Creating Budget in QuickBooks

Here is the list of beneficial pointers through which you can do through the Budget in QuickBooks Desktop:

It helps you update, compile, monitor & conclude each component included in the entire business strategy.
You can easily insert details of the projected income.
Ease of getting information through current QuickBooks file
It assists you in renewing and editing details related to the company.
You can also extract the required data from the active QuickBooks file in the inserted projected information.

How to Create a Budget in QuickBooks Desktop Also a Forecast Budget

Walk down through the below-mentioned steps to how to create a budget in QuickBooks Desktop.

Step 1: Process of Setting up Budgets Window

Here are the instructions:

Locate Company option
Hit on Planning & Budgeting
Once done, choose the Setup Budget command.
At last, you will display the Create Dialog box named New Budget appearing on your screen.
Use it to generate a new budget.

Step 2: Select the Financial Year Period

Locate the text box displayed on the screen to insert the financial year.
- For example, use the button to change the preferred year to 2015 if you decide to budget for 2015.

Step 3: Make a Balance Sheet or Profit & Loss Report

Here is the list of instructions you need to generate a Loss & Profit budget:

Profit and Loss Budget:

Locate the radio button named profit & loss
Hit on the Next button
In this, you can quickly budget the stated revenue or expenditure amount for the month.
Choose the Customer job radio button if you need an extra extension of the Budget regarding job details.
Select the class radio button named class for the classes regarding Budget; you can select the radio button named no Additional criteria.

Generate a Balance Sheet Budget:

Firstly, select the radio button named balance sheet to create the Budget of a balance sheet.
Hit on the Finish option
Locate Create Budget appearing in the Scratch radio button
If you need to create a budget depending upon the original data from the last year, then you have to select Create a budget from the radio button named actual data of the earlier year.

Step 4: Select Finish

For this locate window named QuickBooks Set up Budget.
Hit the Finish button.

Steps to Create a Subdivided Budget in QuickBooks Desktop

Follow the given pointers to create a subdivided budget in QuickBooks Desktop:

Locate the Gear icon
Search for Budgeting and give a hit on it
Discover the top-right corner of the screen to choose Add Budget
Now insert the below information:
Budget Fiscal Year
Budget Name
Interval: Monthly, Quarterly or Annual
Subdivide by, Select
Pre-Fill Data
Locate the Next button and then select the appropriate category
After this insert the amounts of the Budget
Hit on the Save button appearing at the lower right corner of the screen
Now insert the amounts of Budget regarding all partitioned sections.
Hit on Save and then choose the Close button.

May be helpful-- How to Delete a Budget in QuickBooks

How to Create a Budget in QuickBooks Online

Follow the below steps to create a budget in QuickBooks Online.

Step 1: Resolve the Initial Month of the Fiscal Year

You must know about the first month of your financial year to create the Budget in QuickBooks online. Here is the list of steps you have to follow to modify the financial year set:

Locate Setting then discover Company Settings and hit on it
Choose the Advanced button.
Search under the Accounting section; verify that you have done the accurate setting of the first month of the financial year.
If found any error, then hit on the Edit button to modify the setting.
Hit on the Save button once done.
Once you know that the fiscal year is selected accurately, the next step is to review the planned data to core the Budget.

Step 2: Collect your Budget Data

In this step, you can easily base the Budget on the current financial or earlier years’ details. In case you want to use historical information, then it is best to run a transaction and profit detail report to confirm that data is accurately allocated in the past. The budgeting report by default shows transactions done during the current date of the active financial year. Follow the steps:

Locate the Reports
Discover and click on the Profit & loss report
Now select the previous fiscal year. Make sure you use the default settings of the year to use the data regarding the fiscal year.
Hit on Run Report.

Step 3: Start Creating the Budget

In this case, you do not want to proceed with a new budget, and then you can easily copy the previous one. To do this, here is the list:

Discover the Settings then click Budgeting after that hit on Add Budget.
Write the budget name in the appearing name field
Select the financial year regarding the Budget listed in the dropdown list named Financial year
Locate the option displayed in the dropdown that says interval to discover the Budget whether it is for Quarterly, monthly, or yearly
You can use the options mentioned on the interval dropdown menu if you need to define a Budget.
There is an optional feature to define the Budget by automatically writing the date from the active or last year into the Budget.
If you need to specify the year through a pre-fill dropdown list
Go to subdivide by dropdown list to divide according to the Customer or location. It is an optional step.
Hit on the Next button
If you do not use the pre-fill data button, then write the data of the Budget into the table.
QuickBooks Online permits only decimals and does not allow the round figure to the nearest dollars.
You can locate the settings option located on the top of the column and verify whether the hide blank rows choice is selected.
Once done, hit Save and then Close.

Hopefully, the above information provided you with awareness regarding how to create and delete a Budget in QuickBooks. If still have doubts, then reach out to the QuickBooks helpdesk phone number. The team is there to provide your assistance on all your queries. Meanwhile, you can drop an email or do a live chat if you need on-spot solutions to your questions.