Setting up Budgets in NetSuite

Setting up budgets in NetSuite is simple, and can help provide visibility for financial planning. Budgets offer users the ability to select and define accounts that are needed for their budgets and provide expense and income statements over a set period of time. It’s easy to set up a new budget in NetSuite, or import a budget that you have externally.

To create or import budgets, the user will need to have the role permission “Set Up Budgets.”

Creating a Budget

Creating a budget in NetSuite is simple and can be completed in a two-step process.

Step One: Going to the Creation Page

To create a budget, simply go to Transactions > Financial > Set Up Budgets. It will bring you to the main budget creation page.

• Select the year that you are creating the budget for, and the budget category. Defining a budget category gives you the opportunity to create different budgets for the same class, department, or location.
• Identify if this budget is for a particular customer, project, or item
• Determine header information, if necessary (Class, Department, Location).
• Select the account type for your budget:
  • Income and Expense
  • Income
  • Expense
  • Balance Sheet
  • All

Step Two: Filling out the Budget

Here, you can identify the dollar amount per month of your budget. You can apply a check mark by a specific account for that month and can enter the amount individually per month, or by copying the amount from the first month to all remaining months. To do this, enter an amount in January, select the account that you want to apply it to, and select the “Fill” button. This will fill your budget in for you. You can also evenly distribute amounts in your budget. This is done by selecting the "Apply" box next to an account, entering an amount in the first month, and selecting "Distribute." Once you have completed filling in this part of your budget, hit “Save.”

Once you have finished creating or importing your budget, you can review the Budget Income Statement by going to Reports > Banking/Budgeting > Budget Income Statement. From there, you can review and approve the budget that was entered, or export the information and adjust it to match your business needs.

Importing a Budget

Importing a budget into NetSuite that you have already created in another interface is simple. This can be done in a three-step process.

Step One: Navigating to the Import Page

To get to the budget import page, simply go to Transactions > Financial > Set Up Budgets > Import. You will have to select the character encoding (Unicode UTF-8) for your spreadsheet, and upload your CSV file into the system. Once you have done this, click on the “Next” button.
*If you need help formatting your budget into a file that can be imported, you can select the Budgets Template File link to download a template for your file.

Step Two: Mapping Your File Import Fields

To ensure your data imports correctly, you will want to map the following fields:

• Account (Use account names, not numbers)
• Budget Category (Necessary if you are using the Multiple Budgets feature)
• Class
• Customer/Project
• Department
• Item (If necessary)
• Location
• Period Amount (Can include up to 12)
• Year (Values need to be with the accounting periods that have been set up)

Step Three: Reviewing the Import Mappings

In order to avoid spending a lot of time remapping and fixing your imports, it is important to review the different mappings that you have created for your import. NetSuite will try to automatically map your import files, so it is important to review the mapping and make sure you have all the fields in the correct columns. Once you have completed this, you can hit next, and it will run the import for you.

*If you want to make any changes to a budget that is already in NetSuite, you can export the budget to excel and make changes (Transactions > Financial > Set Up Budgets > Search, find the budget that you are looking for, and then export).

At FMT, we want to help you get the most out of your NetSuite solution. Our in-house consultants will work with you to take your solution from acceptable to exceptional, so you can unlock the real potential of your business. Contact us today to learn more about our service plans.

Written by:
Olivia Huie
NetSuite Consultant