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1. Select the Balance Sheet Template. 

   • This template determines the layout of the Balance Sheet budget.

   • The options available depend on the types of Balance Sheet statements your organization has created in the Financial Statements module. If your organization only uses one Balance Sheet template, it will be applied by default.

2. Set the Balance Sheet budget hierarchy Levels.

   • By default, the first level is the top-level group (category) for the Balance Sheet statement, and you can't change it.

   • You can't add levels here if there are no other levels in the P&L budget setup.

   • Where levels are available, you can have fewer levels in your Balance Sheet than are in your P&L. For example, you might want to do your Balance Sheet and Cash Flow budgets at the company level but include your company and branch in your P&L.

   • To add a level, click Add level, then select the dimension you want to add at that level. The dimensions that are available in the list correspond to the levels in the P&L budget setup.

   • If you add multiple levels, you can reorder those levels to determine how the dimensions are grouped in your Balance Sheet budget. Click and hold the level's Move button (a blue box displays around the row), then drag the level up or down to its new position. 

3. (Optional) Select the Cash Flow Template. 

   • This template creates a Cash Flow budget on a separate tab in the workbook.

   • The values in the Cash Flow budget are automatically derived from the values in the P&L and Balance Sheet budgets. The budget hierarchy levels are inherited from the Balance Sheet budget but if available, you can add custom levels that will help you to group your Cash Flow statement.

4. Select the opening balance Stream. This is the stream from which your Balance Sheet values come. In most cases, this is the Balance Sheet stream but you might have other options to choose from.

5. (Optional) Change the opening balance start date (previous Period End date).

   • By default, this date is selected for you, as it is linked to the start date of your P&L budget setup. For example, if your budget period is April 2023 to March 2024, the Balance Sheet opening balance date is the month before that period, March 2023.

   • This date must be on or before your Balance Sheet budget period start date, as it informs the initial opening balance for your Balance Sheet budget and enables changes (movements) to be entered to create a sensible budget opening position. When the Balance Sheet budget starts in a future month, the opening balance helps you to form the bridge between the last closed period and the beginning of the budget period.

   • You can change this date in the future. For example, when you're in the budget period, you can actualize your Balance Sheet by bringing in the actual opening position for that budget period.

6. (Optional) Change the Measure. By default, the measure is selected for you, as it is linked to the stream you selected in step 5. The measure is typically the same as the measure used in the P&L budget.

7. Set the measure format (prefix, decimal, and suffix) to determine how the measures (numerical values) display in the grid.

   

8. (Optional) Select the Include mini drivers… checkbox to add drivers to the Balance Sheet. For more information about this feature, see Use mini drivers in the Balance Sheet budget.

9. Click Next.

This step is applicable if you selected the Include mini drivers… checkbox in the previous step. Otherwise, you can ignore it and proceed to the Retained Earnings mapping step.

You can add four types of drivers. This part of the setup can be complex, so see Use mini drivers in the Balance Sheet budget for detailed information.

After you add the drivers, click Next.    

1. Map the entities in the selected dimension to the Retained Earnings account(s).

   • This setting determines the General Ledger Retained Earnings account code(s) in the Balance Sheet budget to which the profit from the P&L budget is allocated. Retained Earnings represent the equity of the business (what the business is worth).

   • If you have no levels in the budget, such as in the case of a consolidated Balance Sheet budget, you will only have one Retained Earnings account to map. Otherwise, you might have multiple accounts to map. Depending on your account structure, you can use the same Retained Earnings account for several entities or use different accounts as required.

   • If you have a lot of entities, you can filter the list of entities and/or select the Not mapped option from the All dropdown list on the top right to help you complete the mapping.

     

   • To map one entity, click the yellow box on the right and select the account from the list that displays.

   • To map multiple entities to one account, select the checkboxes of those entities or click the Select all button in the top left corner of the grid, then select the account from the list that displays.

     

2. Click Next.                     

1. Map the entities in the selected dimension to the Cash account(s).

   • This setting determines the General Ledger account code(s) in the Balance Sheet budget that captures all the changes to cash.

   • Depending on your account structure, you can use the same General Ledger Bank account code for several entities or use different accounts as required. Typically, you use a separate bank account for each entity. If you have no levels, such as in the case of a consolidated Balance Sheet budget, you will only have one bank account to map.

   • Map entities on the left to the Cash account code on the right as you mapped to the Retained Earnings accounts. The bank and/or cash accounts display at the top of the list (marked with a bank icon).

     

2. Click Save and finish. 

Please note that some elements in the video look different from how they currently look, due to design changes. However, the process is the same.