CenterPoint^® Accounting for Agriculture - Understanding and Using Budgets

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CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture - Create a Budget Video - Duration: 18 min 38 sec

CenterPoint Accounting - Create a Budget Video - Duration: 16 min 47 sec

Open, Copy or Delete a Budget Video - Duration: 6 min 25 sec

Comparing Budget Entry Modes Video - Duration: 24 min 15 sec

View or Print as PDF for CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture

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Budgeting is an estimation of the revenue and expenses for your farm over a specified future period of time. To successfully manage the business, it is important to monitor the actual to budget information.Historical data is one of your greatest assets. The data is full of information that can be used to improve your management and increase your profits. When you use historical data as a basis for budgeting future periods, you are able to make better management decisions. Budgeting lets you look at "what-if" scenarios. What if you purchased a new asset? What would be the change on your cash flow? All budget entries are made on the Flow of Funds tab (this tab is at the bottom of the Budgeting screen). The entries will flow to the Balance Sheet and Income Statement as well. The Balance Sheet tab will include the actual beginning balances plus the budget numbers from the Flow of Funds tab. This topic includes instructions on how to:

Step A - Create a Budget

Step B - Add Amounts to a Budget

Step C - Formatting a Budget

Step D - Change the Way your Budget Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

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Step A - Create a Budget

1. On the Reporting Tools menu, select Budgets or on the Setup menu, select Budgets.
2. On the Open a Budget screen, click New.
3. On the Budget Properties screen, enter the name used to identify the budget in the Budget Name box. The budget name should be descriptive enough to allow you to determine exactly what this budget encompasses.

4. In the Company/Fund box, select the company/fund this budget is for. You can only budget for a single company/fund at a time. If you want to look at budgets for more than one company/fund combined, you can do that in Financial Analysis.
5. In the From / To boxes, select  the range of dates this budget is for. The date range can be expanded later for future budgeting. If you selected a date range that extends beyond the current open periods in your database, you will receive a Balances have not been rolled forward to this period. Do you want to roll balances forward at this time. message. Since you are likely budgeting future transactions, click Yes.
6. In the Balance From box, select the period from which to start including budget data in the Balance Sheet. This is normally the period prior to the date selected in the From box. Since a budget contains a Flow of Funds, Balance Sheet, and Income statement, the budget needs to know where to get the beginning balances for the budgeted Balance Sheet.
7. Select the Include Account Numbers check box to display account numbers (if present) or multi-segmented account numbers before each postable account name on the Budget sheets. Budget postable accounts are not parent accounts, are not inventory items or are not parent accounts that have items.
8. If you chose to Include Account Numbers, in the Order By box, select the way you want the account numbers ordered, by Account Name or Account Number.
9. If this is the only budget you will be creating for your company/fund, or this is the most commonly used budget for this company/fund, select Set As Default Reporting Budget. By selecting this option, any reports that use budget numbers will automatically use this budget.
10. If you want to bring information in from another budget, under Imported Budgets, click Add and select an available budget to import the selected budget(s) summary data into this budget. For example, if you have already created individual budgets for different business units of your operation, you can import those budgets into this one to create a collective budget. When a budget is imported the information in that budget's summary records is copied to the records in the current budget's detail records and is flagged as imported so that at any time, the data can be removed if required (by selecting the budget and clicking Remove.) Click OK. If you update an imported budget, you will receive a One or more imported budgets have been modified or removed message, click OK, and then click the Update button on the Budget Properties screen.

10. Click the Entry Mode tab. You will likely be coming back to this tab several times during your budgeting process depending on the detail level that your budget encompasses. Options set on this tab are valid to all entries made after you click the OK button. Once you return to this tab and change the settings, future budget entries will use the new settings but will not affect previously entered budget information.

    CenterPoint offers a number of ways to budget information; from simply just entering amounts in the appropriate periods/accounts to having the system automatically budget amounts in multiple accounts based on other amounts that have been entered. The Entry Mode controls what happens when amounts are entered into a budget. Below each of the Entry Modes have been described. A Default Entry Mode is assigned when a budget is created, but this can be modified after the budget is created. If you are unsure which mode would work best for your company, please contact our support department.

    • Open Entry - This method is used to create a basic budget where budgets numbers are entered and they do not offset to any accounts. This mode is normally selected if you simply want to enter budget numbers for revenue and expenses. This option should not be used if you want to budget cash flow because it does not offset your budgeted revenue and expenses to the cash account.
    • Journal Entry Offset to Cash - This method is similar to Open Entry as amounts can be entered into any account, but when amounts are entered they are automatically offset to the cash account. For example, if you are planning on purchasing a new computer in February you would enter that $1500 in your appropriate expense account and CenterPoint would automatically budget -1500 in your cash account. This allows you to budget and plan your cash flow.
    • Detail Transaction Entry - This is the most complex budgeting method in CenterPoint and is recommended mainly for CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture users. It will use the templates assigned to accounts to create offsetting budget entries. For example, if an amount is entered into a Corn Sales account and it has been assigned the template of DT - Sell Raised Inventory, the system will automatically create offsetting budget entries for the Changed in Raised Inventory account, the Corn Inventory Account and the Cash Account.
    • Use Account Entry Mode - This mode allows you to use different modes for different accounts within the same budget. Once the budget is created, then the mode can be changed on an account by account basis within File > Budget Account Properties.

11. If you choose Open Entry or Detailed Transaction Entry mode, you must select a Bank Account (cash and line of credit accounts can be selected). Each budget amount entered will automatically offset to the cash account specified here.
12. If this budget will be for a specific project, location, profit center, etc. specify those details in the Entry Defaults section. Any dollar amounts added to this budget after the details are specified will be assigned automatically.
13. Click the Limitations tab. This tab will display only if you have chosen to use Database Security in File > Preferences.
14. This tab lists the profit centers, production centers, and projects in your database. You can select any of these items to indicate that the item is either allowed or excluded for use within the current budget depending on whether you select Allow Selected, Exclude Selected, or Allow All in the Access box . If most items are to be used in the current budget, it would be easier to exclude the few that are not to be available.  If most are to be available it would be easier to exclude the few selected items.

15. Click the Security tab. This tab will display only if you have chosen to use Database Security in File > Preferences.

    • This tab can be used to grant access to the current budget for specific user groups (a list of all user groups defined for the database will display). Select the user groups that can access the current budget. If a budget contains imported budgets, a user must be a member of one or more user groups that have access to each of the imported budgets in order to open that budget.

    • Select the Do Not Allow Updates on this Budget to "lock" the budget and make it read-only. When this check box is selected, you will be prevented from altering the budget amounts/quantities and any significant formatting options (adding/removing columns), but you can still filter data and alter how the data is displayed (Hide Zero Rows, Level of Detail, etc.).

16. Click OK to create the budget. A blank budget screen will be displayed.

Step B - Add Amounts to a Budget

Dollar amounts can be added into the budget grid a number of ways; manually enter them, copy from an existing budget or actuals, or by using the Budget Adjustments screen.

Manually Add Values

1. From within the main Budget screen, select the appropriate cell and enter the amount.
2. What happens after the amounts are entered depends on which Entry Mode you have selected for this budget or account:

   Detail Transaction Entry: the Budget Properties screen will automatically display so that additional required data can be entered. Please refer to the FAQ section below for more detailed information on the Budget Properties screen.

   Journal Entry Offset to Cash: CenterPoint will automatically offset the budgeted number to the cash account assigned when the budget was created. For example if an amount is assigned to a sales account, then the amount will be added to the cash account in the same period. If an amount is entered to an expense account, the amount will be deducted from the cash account.

   Open Entry: No offsets will be created.

Assign Amount to Multiple Periods

1. If you would like to budget the same amount across multiple periods select Edit > Adjustmentsfrom within the main budget screen.

2. Select the appropriate Account on the upper left side of the screen.
3. The Apply all adjustments to [xxxx] check box only displays when there is one or more production detail assigned (Profit Center / Production Center/ Production Year / Production Year / Project.) to this budget. If you want to apply the adjustment to the budget properties set for the budget, select the Apply all adjustments to [xxxx] check box where [xxxx] is the name of the current entry default values as displayed at the top of the budget screen. Example: Apply all adjustments to Profit Center / Production Center/ Production Year / Production Year / Project.

4. In the Adjustment Type field, select Assign Amount to Multiple Periods.
5. Select the periods that the amount should be used in From To.
6. Specify the Amount.
7. Click on Perform Adjustment to duplicate that amount in each period selected for this account. To accept the values, click Save.

Allocate Amount to Multiple Periods

1. If you would like to allocate or distribute an amount across multiple periods, select Edit > Adjustments.
2. The process will be the same as outlined above for Assign Amount to Multiple Periods, but change the Adjustment Type in step d to Allocate Amount to Multiple Periods.
3. In the Amount field, specify the amount that should be distributed. For example if $120,000 was entered in the Amount and a 12 month period was selected in the From To field, the system would distribute $10,000 to each month for this account.
4. If you budget with production details, click View Production.

Copy From Actual

1. If you would like to start with a budget that uses last years actual numbers as a basis, select Edit > Copy to Budget.



2. Select a Source of Actual.
3. Select the Budget you want to copy.
4. Select the prior year dates to copy from in the Period From/To fields.
5. Select all the Accounts you'd like copied in the Accounts field. Normally this is your revenue and expense accounts.
6. Select the Destination Properties and specify if you want to add or replace the existing data, the type of entry mode, and how you want to handle copying Profit Center / Production Center/ Production Year / Production Year / Project (copy source information, do not copy - leave blank, or assign a specific value).
7. Click OK.

Copy From Budget

1. If you'd like to start this budget with numbers copied from another budget (for example, last years budget numbers), use the same Edit > Copy to Budget process outlined above.
2. In step b above, use a Source of Budget instead of Actual.
3. Continue with steps c-g outlined in the Copy from Actual section above.

Step C - Formatting a Budget

Change the Display of Rows in a Budget

The budget includes a row for every account that you have in your database. The budget may also include rows for inactive accounts or accounts that have had no activity. This can make the report rather long. There are some built-in row options that allow you to summarize the content further.

The Edit menu contains the functionality for formatting the rows in a budget. Use the Edit menu to:

• Change the Entry Mode.
• Copy To actual/budget data to a budget.
• Copy to Clipboard to copy selected data to the clipboard for use in another program.
• On the Edit menu, click Copy to Clipboard or right-click and select Copy to Clipboard.
• Perform Budget Adjustments
• View Current Cell contents - If the cell is actual data, the Transaction Search screen displays showing the transaction to which the entry belongs. To edit the transaction, click Edit. The original transaction screen will display where you can edit or delete the transaction. If the cell is budget data, you can delete budget transactions for the account/period selected. To delete budget data, click Delete. At the "Remove this transaction?" message, click Yes.
• Refresh Data - Each time you open abudget, CenterPoint automatically refreshes the data for new entries, modifications, and deletions. Since you can have multiple windows open at one time in CenterPoint, it is possible that you might have an open budget and be entering transactions on a transactions screen. When you return to the analysis, you have two choices for refreshing the data for any new entries, modifications, and deletions since you have had the budget open. The first option is to close the budget and then open it again. Since that isn’t the most desirable of options, you can use the Refresh option.

The View menu contains the functionality for additional formatting of rows in an a budget. Use the View menu to:

• Hide zero rows - Hides all rows without any activity (zero values) in the selected periods. When activity is entered across months that total zero for the Calculated Total column, the Hide Zero Rows selection will not consider the row a zero row and display the row.
• Hide inactive zero rows - Hides only the rows of inactive accounts that have had no activity in the selected periods.
• Expand/collapse  rows (select the Detail Level menu item) to display GL accounts, account category detail, or account level 1 - 3.
• Filter data by Entry Type - Cash, Journal Entries, or Combined.

• Cash - Includes only transaction types of Cash and AR/AP Payments.
• AR/AP - Includes only transaction types of AR/AP Invoices and Payments.
• Journal Entries - Includes only transaction types of Journal Entry.
• Combined - Includes all transaction types.

• Filter data by Entry Mode - Open Entry, Imported, or Combined.
  • Open Entry- Includes any transactions created in the Open Entry entry mode.
  • Imported - Includes any transactions that were imported from other analysis/budgets.
  • Combined - Includes all transaction entry modes.

The budget also includes total rows that display the accumulative budgeted dollars, for example on the Balance Sheet: Assets Total, Equity Total, Budgeted Net Income (displays the accumulative net income for each column as shown on the Income Statement), and Liabilities and Equity Total (includes the totals for the Liabilities Total, Budgeted Net Income, and Equity Total columns).

Change the Display of Columns in a Budget

CenterPoint gives you the option of defining each column individually. This gives you control over headings, filters, and data content. It also allows you to insert columns, delete columns, resize columns, and create other calculated columns.

The size of the columns are saved and will display the same size the next time a budget or analysis is opened. If a column is resized, that size will be saved for ALL sheets -- Flow of Funds, Balance Sheet, and Income Statement.

Change the Order of Displayed Columns

1. In an open budget, on the Format menu, click Columns.
2. On the left-hand side of the Columns screen, select the column you want to format.
3. Click to display the column before other columns, or click to display the column after other columns.
4. Click OK.

Resize a column:

• Place your cursor in the heading section of a column until your cursor displays a cross with horizontal arrows. Hold your mouse button down and drag the column to the resize the column.

Auto-resize a column:

• Place your cursor in the heading section of a column and double-click.

Resize Selected Columns:

• In an open analysis/budget, select the columns you want to resize.

Note: Changing the widths of the left most column is not allowed.

• On the Format menu, click Column Width.
• Enter the width you want the columns to be.
• Click OK.

Setup Custom Column Layouts

Custom column layouts can be set by selecting Format > Columns.

Column Properties

The title field provides a one line description of the contents of the column. This will be in addition to the automatic column headings of Actual or Budget and the date range.

Each column can be defined as either a data column or a calculated column.

Data Columns

• From and To – Allows you to select a calendar range of data that you wish to display in each column. (Hint: If you filter the column by production year, you should be aware of the fact that you might have activity in years preceding that calendar year and after that calendar year that still relate to that production so make your date range wide enough to accommodate those years.)
• Data Source – Allows you column-by-column to determine if actual or budget data will display in the column. This allows you to have one column of actual data for a date range and one column of budget data for that same date range side-by-side.
• Balance Sheet – Select which values you want displayed on the Balance Sheet, book or market values.
• Filters – You can filter the data in the column for any of the following items:
  • Profit\Center Cost Center
  • Production Center
  • Production Year
  • Production Series

Note: Budget level filters will limit the list of accounts when using multi-segmented accounts, for example. if you excluded the Cornprofit center, any multi-segmented accounts with the Cornprofit center as a segment would not appear in the budget or in areas where multi-segmented accounts are selected – like Edit > Adjustments and Edit > Copy To Budget.

Calculated Columns – Allows you to choose from the following calculation options:

• Total – Allows you to select which columns to include in the calculation of this column.
• Average – Allows you to select which columns to include in the average calculation.
• Percent – Allows you to choose two columns, the calculated column will show Column 2 as a percentage of Column 1.
• Difference – Allows you to select two columns and show the difference between the two. The second column selected will be subtracted from the first column selected.

• Percent Difference – Allows you to select two columns and show the difference between the two as a percentage of the second column selected. The second column selected will be subtracted from the first column selected, and the difference will be shown as a percentage of the second column.
• Custom as Percent – This option displays the Custom As Percent screen (a free format formula screen) that allows you to perform any calculation you want on the columns. The result is displayed as a percentage.
• Custom as Dollars – Also provides a free format formula building option that allows you to define the calculation you want to perform on the columns.

If a calculated column contains the red text "#error: ###", the formula entered was not a valid equation.

The Format menu contains the functionality for formatting the columns in a budget. Use the Format menu to:

• Change the Predefined Layouts to Quarterly or Annual view since budgets can only be entered in the Monthly view.
• Apply a filter to a Column(s) -Allows you to quickly apply a filter to the selected column. Click Filters, under Select a Filter, select the information that you want to filter the column by, under Define Filter Criteria, select the criteria specific to the information, click Add Filter, and then click Apply.
• Quick Insert Columns- In the Insert For box, select Current Selection to insert an additional column for the selected column(s) or All to insert all columns using the selected criteria. In the Data box, select the type of data you want to insert, Actual or Budget.In the Values box, select the type of values you want to insert, Book or Market Value for the Balance Sheet. In the Years box, select the calendar year to display in the column.
• Copy a column by selecting the column on the left-hand side of the Columns screen, and then click Copy.
• Delete a column by selecting the column on the left hand side of the Columns scree, and then click Delete.

The View menu contains the functionality for additional formatting of columns in a budget. Use the View menu to:

• Show Cents – Toggles the format from dollars and cents to only dollars.
• Filters – Allows you to quickly apply a filter to all columns. Under Select a Filter, select the information that you want to filter by, under Define Filter Criteria, select the criteria specific to the information, click Add Filter, and then click Apply.
• Hide Zero Columns – Hides any columns that have all zero values in them.
• Quantities \ Prices – Allows you to also show Quantity 1 or Quantity 2 columns and Price 1 or Price 2 columns for all data columns. These columns will be filtered the same as the data columns. Price and quantity columns will only be added into the grid when you specifically request them by selecting the check boxes.
• Entry Type – This limits the data displayed in the column to a specific type of entry. The entry options are:
  • Cash – Only entries that are offset to cash.
  • Journal Entries- All journal entries only.
  • Combined (default) – Combines all of the above to give a complete accrual analysis.

Format Definitions

Save a Format Definition

To assign a name to the formatting criteria for later use, save the format definition by using the procedure below. The information saved with the formatting includes the column configurations, custom calculated columns, and any filtering that is applied either through the View menu or through Filters section which can apply to both individual columns or the budget as a whole.

1. In an open budget, on the Format menu, click Save Current As.
2. In the Name box, enter a name for the formatting criteria.
3. Click OK.

Use a Format Definition

To select a previously saved set of formatting criteria which is then applied to the current budget, follow the procedure below.

1. In an open budget, on the Format menu, click Load.
2. In the Name column, select the name that contains the formatting criteria you want to apply to the current budget.
3. Click OK.

Delete a Format Definition

To delete a previously saved set of formatting criteria , follow the procedure below.

1. In an open budget, on the Format menu, click Load.
2. In the Name column, select the name that contains the formatting criteria you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. At the "Delete this Item?" message, click Yes.
5. Click OK.

Step D - Set Printing Properties and Print a Budget

Page setup allows you to change the way your budget prints. Use the File > Page Setup menu selections to:

Change the Top, Bottom, Left, or Right Margins

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Marginst b.
3. In the Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Header, and Footer boxes, enter the margin size or use the up and down arrows to enter the margin size.
4. Click OK.

Change the Orientation

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Page tab.
3. Under Orientation, select Portrait to print a page taller than it is wide when you view the text right-side up or select Landscape to print a page wider than it is tall when you view the text right-side up.
4. Click OK.

Adjust the Size (Scale)

1. In an open analysis/budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Page tab.

3. Under Scaling, in the Adjust to box, enter a percentage of the normal size, or use the up and down arrows to adjust the percentage of the normal size.
4. Click OK.

Print Gridlines

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Sheet ab.
3. Under Print, select the Gridlines check box.
4. Click OK.

Add a Header/Footer

1. In an open /budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Header/Footer  tab.
3. In the Header box, enter the header that you want to display at the top of the printed budget and/or in the Footer box, enter the footer that you want to display at the bottom of the printed budget.
4. Click OK.

Print Row/Column Headings

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Sheettab.
3. Under Print, select the Row Headings check box to print row headings and select the Column Headings check box to print column headings.
4. Click OK.
5. The selections made on the Reporting Tools > Budgets > File > New Budget > General and Entry Mode screen will display as the Budget Title on the main budget entry screen. The format of the information in the title is: Budget Title – Profit Center / Production Center/ Production Year / Production Year (the information will show in the title only if the information is not blank).

Print in Color or Black/White

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Sheet tab.
3. Under Print, clear the Black and white check box to print in color, or select the Black and white check box to print in black/white..
4. Click OK.

Determine Print Order

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Sheet  tab.

3. Click Down, then over or Over, then down to control the order in which data is numbered and printed when the analysis/budget does not fit on one page.
4. Click OK.

Preview a Budget

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Print Preview or click .
2. In the Print Preview screen, click , complete the Print screen, and then click OK to print the budget.
3. In the Print Preview screen, click and select a zoom percentage to zoom into specific data.
4. In the Print Preview screen, click:

   - To view the budget one page at  a time.

   - To view the budget two pages at a time.

   - To view the budget three pages at a time.

   - To view the budget four pages at a time.

   - To view the budget six pages at a time.

5. On the right-hand side of the Print Preview screen, click the up and down arrows in the Page box ( ) to move to the different pages in the budget.
6. The selections made on the Reporting Tools > Budgets > File > New Budget > General and Entry Mode screen will display as the Budget Title on the main budget entry screen. The format of the information in the title is:
   

Print a Budget

1. In an open budget, on the File menu, click Printor click or in the Print Preview screen, click .
2. Complete the Print screen, and then click OK to print the budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I delete a budget amount that's been entered?

A: Double click on the number and select the Delete button.

Q: How should I do my budgeting if I have multiple profit centers?

A: We recommend you create a separate budget for each profit center. Once all of the individual profit center budgets are created, you can create an additional company/fund budget that includes all the data from the individual profit centers. Please refer to the Importing Multiple Budgets topic for detailed instructions.

Q: How do I change the mode I'm using on an existing budget?

A: Select File > Properties. The method is specified on the Entry Mode tab.

Q: I'm using the Use Account Entry Mode on my budget. Where can I specify the method I want to use for each account?

A: Select File > Budget Account Properties. Select the account at the top of the screen and select the appropriate method in the Default Entry Mode field.

Q: I'm using the Detail Transaction Entry Mode on my budget. Where can I change which template the budget has assigned to an account?

A: Select File > Budget Account Properties. Select the account at the top of the screen. The Default Template is displayed and can be changed. This is also where you can specify if Quantities should be displayed in the budget. If a template is assigned to the account, that template will be used as the default template. If the account does not have a template assigned to it, the account category will be used to determine the default template. If the account category does not have a template assigned to it, the account type will be used to determine the default template.

Q: Where can I change the default entry mode the budget has assigned to an account when I'm using the Detail Transaction Entry Mode on my budget?

A: Select File > Budget Account Properties. Select the account at the top of the screen. The Default Entry Mode is displayed and can be changed. This is also where you can specify if Quantities should be displayed in the budget. The default Entry Mode is Offset to Cash for all accounts except for accounts that belong to an account category that are Sales Revenue, for example Sales of Raised Crops, Sales of Raised Livestock, Sales of Breeding Livestock, Milk Sales, Resale of Purchased Livestock, on these accounts the Entry Mode is Detailed Transaction Entry. With the Detailed Transaction Entry mode, you will be allowed to select the template you would like to use for transactions to this account during the budget process.

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