Setting Up Budget for New Year



The following are the steps to setup the budget for a new year in SGA Accounting.

  • Budgets > Years 
    • Click New.  Add the new year and select type Budget.  
    • Normal settings are to uncheck “disallow entry on specific dates”. Check boxes to allow entry and allow change to annual amount.  
    • Click User Restrictions button only if you wish to restrict budget entry for now to selected users. 
    • Do not check the “Copy budgets from”.
    • Check the box “Copy allocations from” the current year (select from the dropdown arrow) to the new year. You will later change rates in allocations as needed for the new year.
  • Budgets > Budget Format Account Ranges
    • Note the Format ID names that are currently being used. You will want to review each of these format names if any changes are to be made for the new year.
    • One format name is allowed for each account (or range of accounts). Therefore it is important that the same name exist for current and any past years so that prior year budget details can still be seen.  The format setup (columns, descriptions, etc.) may be different but the Format ID/name must be the same from year to year.
  • Budgets > Formats.
    • If there are no changes needed for the new budget year, the existing format remains in effect.  
    • If anything needs changed on a format for the new budget year, do not change the existing format! The existing format must remain as is so you can browse the component detail for past year/s this format was in effect.  
      • Instead, click to highlight the format and click Copy. Remove the words "- Copy" from the name (format ID) and set the effective year for the new year.  It is important that the name (Format ID) be exactly the same as the format for the prior year—just with a new effective year.
    • Make any format changes needed for the new year.
    • To change the default value, such as # pay periods per month, etc., click on the search icon in the Dft Value column.  If this is an annual format, click on the Settings button and click on the Distribution button.
    • Click on the Settings button; review and make any changes if needed. If this is an Annual format, click the Distributions button to see if anything needs changed.
    • Note the box “Prompt to default the prior year’s components”. Most folks want to check this box so the user has the option to copy in the prior year component detail when they begin new year budget entry on an account#. 
    • After clicking OK on the Budget Format Settings screen, review the “Copy Next Year” checkboxes and uncheck any column you do not want to copy to the new year budget screen. If you are using a default value, you most likely will NOT want to copy this column from last year to the new year so that the new year's default is presented instead.
  • Budgets > Allocations
    • Select the new year and Budget. If the allocations do not yet exist, click the Copy button and select the prior year and the type to copy into the new year Budget.
    • Double-click on each allocation to review rates; make any changes as needed for the new year.
    • Budget allocations can be manually recomputed from this screen at any time in the future, if rates are changed.
  • Forecast
    • Reminder:  When the new year arrives, you must manually setup the Forecast by copying the new year budget into the forecast. For details, see SGA’s Help; type Forecast Setup on the Index tab.