Creating Master/Detail Budgets
Use master and detail budgets to create budgeting hierarchies for your business. Budgeting hierarchies enable you to control budgeting authority, and easily identify budgets that exceed control limits.
Note: Master budgets are informational only when used with budgetary control. Master budgets do not affect funds checking, budgetary control options, or the relationships between detail and summary accounts used for budgetary control.
The diagram below illustrates three levels of budgets which create a two-level budget hierarchy. The first hierarchy level is between the corporate and division level budgets. In this hierarchy, the corporate-level budget is the master budget and the division-level budgets are the detail budgets. The second hierarchy level is between the division-level and the region or department-level budgets. In this hierarchy, the division-level budgets are now the master budgets and the region or department-level budgets are the detail budgets.
To create master and detail budgets:
1. Define your master budgets using the Define Budget window. Enter a name and period range, then open the budget year.
2. Define your detail budgets using the Define Budget window. Assign the appropriate master budget to each detail budget by entering its name in the Master Budget field. You can assign the same master budget to one or more detail budgets.
3. Define a budget organization for each master budget. The master budget organization should include only the accounts that represent your higher-level budgeting.
4. If you have master budgets at different hierarchy levels, define a separate budget organization for each level of master budgets. This also allows you to use password protection for each master budget.
5. Define a budget organization for each detail budget. The detail budget organization should include only accounts that represent lower-level budgeting. Do not associate the same budget organization with your master and detail budgets.
Note: Be sure to create a separate budget organization for each of your budgets. If you share a budget organization between budgets, you run the risk of increasing both your master and detail budget balances when you budget to a detail budget. In this case, detail budgets will never exceed their controlling master budgets.
6. Define summary accounts to correspond to your budget hierarchy. General Ledger uses summary accounts to maintain master/detail budget relationships between hierarchy levels. Define summary templates so that accounts in your lower-level detail budgets roll up into the same summary accounts as the detail accounts in your controlling master budget.
7. Enter budget amounts in your master and detail budgets using any one of the General Ledger budget entry methods.
8. Produce reports, or run a Budget Inquiry, to review master and detail budget information.
See Also
Master/Detail Budget Example
Overview of Budgeting
Defining Budgets
Defining Budget Organizations
Protecting a Budget with a Password
Entering Budget Amounts
Entering Budget Journals
Creating Budget Formula Batches
Defining MassBudgets
Defining Summary Accounts