What Makes Up a Budget

1. Budgets are built using Schedules and Budget Items.
   
   
2. A budget contains one or more schedules.
   
   
3. Each schedule must have a Name and be linked to an apportionment.
   
   
4. Each schedule can include multiple budget items.
   
   
5. Budget items are the individual charges within a schedule.
   
1. Each item has a budget heading and an amount.
   

To improve accuracy, include as many expected charges as possible when creating a budget. Unexpected or one-off costs can be posted as actual charges later — either included in the reconciliation at the end of the budget period or billed immediately via amended accounts.

Before creating a budget, make sure your development is set up in the system with the correct settings, as outlined in this article.

1. Go to the Budgets tab on the development.
   
1. If you don't see the tab, check that Budgeted is selected in the Accounting Basis field on the Master tab.
   
2. The left grid shows all budgets for the development.
   
3. The right grid displays details for the selected budget:
   
   

1. Click Add:
   
   
   

1. If other budgets exist, the system will ask whether you want to lock them. Click No to review them first, or Yes to proceed if you’ve already checked:
   
   

1. Start by setting the date range the budget will cover.
   

1. Use the Period From and Period To fields at the top of the screen to define the budget period.
   
1. This range should not overlap with other budget dates — for example, use 1 Jan 2025 to 31 Dec 2025, not 1 Jan 2025 to 1 Jan 2026.
   
   
   

1. The system automatically handles leap years, so you don’t need to adjust for them.
   

1. Budgets don’t have to cover a full year — you can set a shorter period (e.g. six or eleven months) to bring a new development in line with your standard budget year.
   

1. The available dates are based on the Charge Date Code selected for the development.
   
1. This ensures the budget ends at the close of a charge period.
   
2. Make sure a suitable Charge Date Code is set before creating your budget.
   

1. Enter a Name for the schedule.
   
   
2. Choose an Apportionment from the drop-down.
   
1. If the right apportionment isn’t listed, go to the Apportionments tab on the development and create one.
   
   
3. Then click Add New:
   
   
   
   
4. Your schedule will appear in the Schedule Information grid.
   
   
5. You can create multiple schedules per budget (e.g. Maintenance, Cosmetic).
   
1. Each schedule uses its own apportionment, letting you split charges differently for each.
   

Adding Budget Items

1. Click to select the schedule on the left before adding items.
   
   
2. On the right, use the Budget Header drop-down to choose a heading for the item:
1. If the right heading isn’t available, you’ll need to create it first, as outlined in this article.
   
   
3. In the Amount (£) field, enter the total amount for the full budget period.
1. Example: For £200/quarter over a year, enter £800.
   
   
4. Click Add New to insert the item into the schedule:
   
   
   

Repeat this process to add all needed items for the schedule.

Multiple Schedules (Optional)

1. You can use the same budget items in different schedules.
   
1. For example, set up one schedule for Block 1 and another for Block 2.
2. Both can include communal electricity, with different amounts for each block.

1. You can also create a schedule for all properties that includes landscaping.
   
1. Then add a separate schedule for Block 3 if it has extra landscaping that only those clients should pay for.
   

Saving and Locking the Budget

1. When you’ve added all budget items, click Save Changes.
   
   
2. If you wish to stop further edits, check the Lock box. Only users with permission can unlock it to edit it:
   
   
   
   
3. Click Save and Close to exit and return to the Budgets tab.
   

Make sure the budget is locked before you run your first budget invoice.

1. You can also lock it from the main Budgets screen:
1. Select the budget from the list.
2. Click the Lock icon on the left:
   
   

Management Fees in a Budget

You can include Management Fees in your budget if you want to charge them this way.

1. Enter the total fee amount in the schedule for the full budget period.
   
   
2. Still process Management Fees as usual through the Management Fees tab in Client Global.
   
   
3. The charge will stay in the system until the end of the budget period.

When you run the budget reconciliation, it will cancel out the budgeted Management Fee so clients aren’t charged twice.