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Create a Budget

Financials > Budgets is where an annual revenue/expense plan is built, one line per account, so actuals can later be compared against the plan. A budget is a Year plus a list of account rows, each pairing an account with a planned Annual Budget Amount.

When would I use this?
  • Setting a spending plan for the coming fiscal year before it starts, so the board can approve it.
  • Planning both revenue (e.g. expected assessment income) and expenses (e.g. planned landscaping spend) side by side for the year.
  • Comparing what was actually collected/spent against the plan partway through the year.
Steps
  1. Go to Financials > Budgets and click + Create Budget.

    The Budgets page with the Create Budget button highlighted

  2. Set the Year (the form pre-fills a suggested year — change it if you need a different one).
  3. Click + Add Row to add an account line (the form starts with none). Repeat for every account you want to budget.

    The Create Budget form with the Year field and the Add Row button highlighted

  4. In each row's Account box, start typing to search the chart of accounts. Category chips above the results show: All, Revenue, Expenses. Both revenue accounts (for example, Assessment Income, Amenity Fees) and expense accounts (for example, Repairs & Maintenance) can be budgeted on the same budget.

    The account search with the All, Revenue and Expenses chips highlighted

  5. Enter the Annual Budget Amount for that row.
  6. Repeat for as many accounts as needed. To remove a row you added by mistake, click the trash icon at the end of that row. Then click Save, or click Cancel to leave without saving.

    Two filled budget rows with the amounts, running totals and Save button highlighted

Good to know
  • The Type badge on each row (Revenue or Expense) is not a field you choose — it fills in automatically based on which account you selected. A row shows "Not Selected" for Type only until an account is chosen.
  • Total Revenue and Total Expenses at the bottom right update live as you add rows and amounts.
  • To compare the plan with actual income and spending, see How Do I View a Budget's Summary?
  • There is no manual Name entry on the Create Budget form — a budget is auto-named by the platform based on the year, for example a budget created for 2026 is automatically saved as "2026 Operating Budget," with Frequency "Yearly" and Status "Active."
  • Only one budget can exist for each year. If you enter a year that already has a budget, the Year field shows "A budget already exists for this year" and the budget can't be saved. Use Edit on the existing budget instead (see View and Edit Budgets).