Skip to main content
B
BenFGC
March 3, 2021
Question

Budget vs. Actual that shows date range actuals vs entire year's budget

  • March 3, 2021
  • 5 replies
  • 0 views

I would like to create a budget vs. actual report that gives the actuals for a date range (for instance, last month to date), vs. the budget totals for the ENTIRE fiscal year. For instance, our fiscal year is Aug - July. I want to hand a department lead a budget vs. actual report that shows the department's expenses through January 31st (six months), and compare that to the entire fiscal year's budget totals.

 

When I select a date range of 08/01/2020 - 01/31/2021, the report only includes the budgeted amounts from Aug - Jan, but I want to compare to the entire year to show how much money is left to spend in their entire fiscal year budget. For instance, if their budget is split evenly across each month and they are have a $1,000 budget and they spent $700 through Jan, I want the report to show that they have $300 left, not that they have overspent by $200.

 

I do not want to do a report that includes the entire year, because I don't want to include transactions from 2/1/2021 until now.

5 replies

M
Maybelle_S
March 3, 2021

Hello there, @BenFGC.

 

We can filter the Report period from 01/01/2020 to 01/31/2021. Then, click Run report. This way, it will show you last year's transactions until this January.

 

I've also added this article about creating a budget in QBO: Create and import budgets.

 

You can drop a comment below if you have other questions. I'm always here to help.

B
BenFGCAuthor
March 3, 2021

Maybelle: I'm not really sure how filtering the report period to include 7 months in our prior fiscal year would help. Can you tell me a little more about why pulling data from the beginning of January 2020 would help with the problem I described?

R
Rasa-LilaM
March 4, 2021

I appreciate for adding more details about your concern, BenFGC.


In addition to @Maybelle_S answer, we’ll have to pull up the Budget vs. Actual Report and export it to Excel. We’ll have to perform the same process for the period you wish to see. For example, the entire fiscal year and August-January.


The process allows you to manually arrange the period. Then, select the data you want to show on the report.


To build and export the report:

 

  1. Go to the Reports on the left panel and enter Budget vs. Accruals in the field box.
  2. Click the Report period drop-down and choose the correct date range.
  3. Press the Export icon to select Export to Excel.
  4. Perform the same process for the date range you wish to run.

 

Here’s an article that provides an overview of how to transfer your reports, lists, and non-posting transactions: Export reports, lists, and other data from QuickBooks Online.


Reach out to me if you have other questions or clarifications. I’ll be around to answer them for you. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Y
ybrumfield
October 15, 2021

It's utterly asinine that we have to do this. What group of people sat around a table and decided not to include this functionality?  The lack of report formatting in general is lackluster.  I can't imagine that practicing accountants agreed to the changes that were left on the table when switching to QBO from desktop. And why wouldn't a management report include a budget vs actual???  I mean seriously.

    J
    jnicoll45N
    March 1, 2022

    I don't know if this is just a fluke or if QuickBooks Online actually updated this report. I was able to get the budget vs. actual report to show the Full Year budget next to the current month's actuals by doing the following:

    1. Click on the Budget vs. Actual report. 
    2. On the first screen I select the Report Period as "This Year To Last Month".
    3. Click on Run Report. 
    4. Then click on "Customize"
    5. Then where it says "Report Period" on this screen under General, I select the full year. 
    6. Then I change the "Show Grid" selection to "Accounts vs. Total"
    7. Then click on "Run Report"

     

    I hope this just isn't a fluke and this works for many others. I had this report working correctly for the last 6 months and then all of a sudden with this new year's budget, it stopped working briefly. Then worked again when I followed these exact steps. 

      D
      Donna_D
      March 11, 2022

      I followed your steps exactly, a few times, and unfortunately it would not work for me. So strange that it's sporadic! anyway, I hope they will add this as an option. My desktop clients love it, and I cannot produce it for online clients without a lot of extra (excel) steps. Thanks for posting your results, though!

      B
      blinville2
      February 29, 2024

      I got it to work by entering my yearly budget into the first month of my fiscal year.  I only pull the report in the this fiscal year to last month so it works fine using it like this for me.

        MorganB
        MorganB
        February 29, 2024

        Thank you so much for sharing this info, blinville2. Your post is a great example of what makes the Community so great - fellow QuickBooks users helping each other to find resolutions. 

         

        Please continue sharing your knowledge and feel free to reach out here if you ever need a hand yourself.

        E
        Erika_K
        December 16, 2024

        Yes, you can create more than one budget for a fiscal year, kmeansfwc. I'll provide further details below.

         

        You'll need to navigate to the Budget menu and choose Create budget. From there, you'll be directed to a new page or pop-up window where you will be prompted to enter all the necessary data to set up your budget.

         

        In response to your question about generating a Year-to-Date (YTD) report for the previous month but not loading the full month budget and comparing it against your annual budget, you can achieve this by customizing the Budget vs. Actuals report. Please follow the steps outlined below:

         

        1. Navigate to the Customize button.
        2. Go to the Show Grid section and choose Accounts vs. Months.
        3. Then, click Run report.

        4. You can also select a date from the To field if necessary.

         

        After completing the customization, you can export the report to an Excel file, enabling you to consolidate both reports from different periods. Once exported, you can use the same report for the entire year by modifying the Accounts vs. Total settings in the Show Grid field.

         

        Here are articles you can refer to learn more about how you can set budget targets for each class and edit your budgets:

         

         

        Just click the Reply button below if you need further assistance with budget management. The Community and I will be here to help you.

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement