Budget Overview

 

Data Plus allows users to enter budgets using an excel spreadsheet, or enter budget figures manually. This tech note will provide an overview of the budget entry using the Budget Template and Budget Import Utilities.

 

Budget Template Utility

The Budget Import Template utility found in General Ledger > Utilities will save you time by generating a budget import template for a range of accounts. The file generated is properly formatted for the budget import procedure.

 

1.      Go to General Ledger > Utilities > Budgets > Create Budget Import Template. The following screen will appear:

 

 

 

Export Format – Use the drop down menu to select the file format for the template. Available options are CSV or TXT.

 

Starting Account – Enter the starting account number to be included on the template.

 

Ending Account – Enter the ending account number to be included on the template.

 

Drive Path of File – Enter the drive path to which the template should be saved (ex. c:/budgets/)

 

File Name – Data Plus will automatically assign the file name as ‘bgtimprt.csv’ or ‘bgtimprt.txt’.

Once the above fields have been completed, press F2 to continue. The following message will appear:

 

 

 

Browse to the directory specified when running the utility to open the budget import template that was created. 

 

 

 

The account numbers will appear in column A. The remaining columns (B-N), representing each fiscal month (left to right), will be filled with zeros. For example, Column B represents fiscal month 01, Column C represents fiscal month 02, and so on. Column N may be used as a 13th period, if desired.

 

Enter Budget Figures into each column.

 

General Rules

 

-          If no information exists for a certain month, use a zero to indicate this; do not leave any numeric fields blank.

 

-          Numeric fields need a decimal point only if cents are present. Budget amounts do not need commas, however these are acceptable.

 

-          Negative signs may precede or trail the number.

 

-          Credits are entered as negative numbers. Debits are entered as positive numbers.

 

                                                                                    

Below is an example of an excel file with the account number in the first column.  The remaining columns contain the 12 monthly budget figures.  The excel file should can be saved as a txt or csv file.  The budget import process will import files formatted as both TXT and CSV.

 

 

 

 

 


Budget Import Utility

 

The “Budget Import” process takes data from a CSV or TXT file and creates or replaces budget records in the DPHS database.  The file can only contain budgets for a single year, and if importing to a multi-property database, budgets for a single property.  Budget amounts can be net (monthly) or cumulative (YTD).  Budgets for different years and/or properties must be imported separately from different files.

 

This utility also allows users to create Daily Revenue Budgets from the file. The system will calculate the Daily Revenue budget amount from the monthly amounts provided in the import file.

 

1.   From the General Ledger menu go to Utilities > Budgets > Budget Import. The following screen will appear:

 

         

 

“Import File Format” -         Enter the format of the budget file to be imported – You have two options CSV or TXT.

 

“Path and File – Budgets"-    Enter the full path and name of the CSV or TXT file containing budget data.  This includes the drive, directory, any subdirectories, file name, and extensions.  The program verifies that the file entered exists.

           

“Path and File – Errors” -     Enter the full path and name of a file to be created which will contain all error messages generated from the “Budget Import” process.  Print this file after the “Budget Import” process has completed. EXAMPLE: c:\temp\error.txt

         

“Fiscal Year”-                        Enter the fiscal year for which budgets are being imported.  This year is inserted into the budget record in the database if it does not already exist.

         

“Budget Type” -                     Enter the budget type that is to be created or updated with the imported data.  This can be an existing budget type or you can create a new one.  No verification is performed on the budget type record.  Please note that specific budget types are used to tie the budget figures to the financial statements.  The budget types are referenced in Statement File Maintenance under Definitions.  In order for the financial statements to show the imported budget figures, then the budget type entered during the import process must match the budget type in the statement definition.   

         

“Amounts in Net or Cum?”  If the import file containing budget data has net amounts (amounts for each individual month), enter “N”.  If the import file containing budget data has cumulative amounts (amounts that are accumulated through the months), enter “C”.

(See the import file examples on the last page)

         

“Property” -                           Enter the property ID for the budget.  This field is accessible only if you are running a multi-property database.  No verification is performed for valid property ID, so check your entry carefully.

         

“Insert Property into Account”      Enter “Y” or “N” as to whether or not the import process should insert the property ID into the G/L account number.  This field is accessible only if you are running a multi-property database.  If the ASCII file does not contain the property ID, enter “Y”.  If the ASCII file does contain the property ID, enter “N”.

 

  1. Once the above fields have been completed, press F2 to continue. The following screen will appear. If you wish to create daily revenue budgets, enter Yes and press F2 to continue.

 

 

 

Please Note: Daily Revenue Budgets will only be created for accounts flagged as Daily Revenue Accounts.

 

  1. If ‘Yes’ is selected for Daily Revenue Budgets, the following screen will appear where you can select whether the Daily Revenue Budgets are Dollar (D) or Unit (U) Budgets, as well as the Fiscal Year to which these Daily Budgets should be imported.

 

 

 

  1. Press F2 to continue to begin the Import process. The following message will be displayed once the process is complete.

 

 

 

 

 


Verify Budgets

There are several steps by which users can verify the import process after completion. 

 

1.      The first is to print the error file specified when running the process.  This lists all errors encountered by the program.  It does not list system errors (generated by the operating system).  If the error log file does not exist, there were no errors encountered by the import process.

The second is to start up the database and print one of the budget reports and/or lists.

3.   Go to File Maintenance > Budgets to view the budgets in the system. A screen similar to the following will appear: