Plan the year. See how it went.
Set a budget by account, have a named person approve it, and read it beside what actually happened. A cash forecast shows the next 13 weeks from the bills and invoices already in your books.
Northwind Trading Co., budget against actual, October
| Account | Budget | Actual | Better or worse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 410,000 | 428,500 | +18,500 |
| Wages | 168,000 | 171,200 | -3,200 |
| Rent | 24,000 | 24,000 | 0 |
| Software | 6,500 | 5,100 | +1,400 |
| Advertising | 12,000 | 15,800 | -3,800 |
| Better than budget | +12,900 |
Illustrative
A plan you can hold yourself to.
- 1
Set by account, and by team
Plan each revenue and expense account month by month. Where your business uses them, plan by department, location or project as well.
- 2
Approved by a named person
A budget is approved by someone other than the person who prepared it. Once approved, it is the plan every difference is measured against.
- 3
Changed as a new version
A re-forecast is saved as a new version. The approved budget is never edited, so you can always say what was agreed and what changed.
From the plan to the answer.
Five steps, from the first figure to the next 13 weeks.
Plan
Enter the budget
Add the accounts you want to plan and a figure for each month, or import the budget from a spreadsheet. It is saved as a draft until someone approves it.
- Revenue and expense accounts
- Department, location or project where you use them
- Import from a spreadsheet
FY2027 budget, draft, first three months
| Account | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 395,000 | 402,000 | 410,000 |
| Wages | 165,000 | 166,500 | 168,000 |
| Rent | 24,000 | 24,000 | 24,000 |
Illustrative
Approve
Approved by someone other than the drafter
The person who prepared the budget cannot approve it. The screen says who is being waited on, and records who approved and when.
- Prepared by one person, approved by another
- Approver and date kept
- Waiting budgets stay visible
Budgets on file, Northwind Trading Co.
Illustrative
Re-forecast
Change the plan as a new version
When the year moves, save a re-forecast. It sits beside the approved budget as its own version and needs its own approval, so the original stays as agreed.
- Each version approved on its own
- The agreed budget is never edited
- Differences explained against it
Sales plan for October, by version
| Version | State | Sales plan | Against version 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Version 1 | Approved | 410,000 | 0 |
| Version 2 | Waiting | 425,000 | +15,000 |
Illustrative
Compare
Read the budget against what happened
Pick a company and a year and see each account's budget, its actual, and the difference, marked favourable or unfavourable in words. Accounts nobody budgeted for are called out, and so are budgets nobody spent.
- Favourable or unfavourable, in words
- Filter to what needs a look
- The same figures reach the board pack
October, what the difference is made of
- Sales above budget
- +18,500
- Wages above budget
- -3,200
- Software below budget
- +1,400
- Advertising above budget
- -3,800
- Better than budget, in total
- +12,900
Illustrative
Cash
Look 13 weeks ahead
The cash forecast starts from the bank balance and adds what customers owe and what you owe, week by week. Nothing is typed in twice.
- Built from open invoices and bills
- Week by week for 13 weeks
- Opening and closing balance each week
Cash forecast from 480,000.00 in the bank
| Week | In | Out | Closing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 62,000.00 | 41,500.00 | 500,500.00 |
| Week 2 | 38,200.00 | 55,300.00 | 483,400.00 |
| Week 3 | 71,000.00 | 44,900.00 | 509,500.00 |
Illustrative
One plan, one set of books.
The budget sits beside the ledger and posts nothing, so planning never changes a balance.
Where work starts
A person on screenA spreadsheet of the planIn Eternify Ledger
Budget by accountApproved versionRe-forecast versionThe live booksWhere it lands
Budget against actualBoard pack13-week cash forecastWhat budgets and forecasts cover.
Budgets by account
Revenue and expenses, month by month.
Teams and projects
Plan by department, location or project where you use them.
A separate approver
Someone other than the person who drafted it approves each version.
Re-forecasts
A new version each time, never an edit of the approved one.
Budget against actual
Every account's difference, favourable or unfavourable.
13-week cash forecast
Built from the invoices and bills already booked.
Questions, answered.
Does a budget change my books?
No. A budget is a plan kept beside the ledger. It posts no entries and moves no balances.
Can I change a budget after it is approved?
Not by editing it. You save a re-forecast as a new version, and a person approves that one. The original stays as it was agreed, so every difference can be explained.
Who can approve a budget?
Someone with approval rights who did not prepare it. The preparer sees who it is waiting on instead.
Can I budget for each company in my group?
Yes. A budget belongs to one company and one fiscal year, and you switch between companies to read each one against its actual.
What does the cash forecast start from?
From the bank balance, the invoices customers still owe you and the bills you still owe. It runs 13 weeks ahead.
Know the plan before the year starts.
We set a budget, approve it and read it against real figures on the call.