Budget Management : Martus Solutions

Budgeting & Forecasting

Budget Management

Information for budget managers.

Planner Setup (Video)

Planner Setup allows an Admin user to:

Create, edit, and manage the budget
Update the default budget year
Add or remove worksheets in the budget
Export/import budgets as needed

All Admin users have access to all tabs in Planner Setup. A non-admin user with access to Planner Setup will only have access to the Worksheet Management tab.

Each tab within Planner Setup allows for various actions.

Budget Management Tab

This is the default tab in Planner Setup. It provides options for managing your budgets.

Create a budget - Set the year and click Load, and then click Create Budget to create a blank budget or one based on the prior year's information. Review New Budget Cycle for more details.
Edit the budget name and comments
1. Click anywhere on the budget name or on the pencil icon.
2. Edit as appropriate.
3. Click Save.
Action menu - Select any budget using the box to the left of the budget name to load the action menu:
Copy - Create a copy of the selected budget and choose to post or not post all special purpose worksheets to the copy.
Delete - Remove the budget from the Budget Management tab and create a copy under the Manage Archived Budgets tab.
Set as Dashboard - Make the budget the default in the Dashboard section; any user with access to Dashboard Financials or ReportBuilder will be able to see this budget.
Set as Planner - Make the budget the default in the Planner section; any user with access to Planner Summary or Worksheets will see this budget.
Load Actuals - Replace budget numbers with actuals and freeze the months through the date entered in a budget for that same year. This is most often used in the context of a reforecast. This action will load actuals whether or not the budget is currently frozen or the worksheet is locked.

Limit to Existing Worksheets - To see the impact of this go to Dashboard > Financials and navigate to the Worksheet Budget Comparison report. Any rows with a red "X" will be created as a worksheet if Limit to Existing Worksheets is unchecked.
Load Actuals and Freeze Budget Through - Enter the date through which you want to load actuals and freeze those months. The date must be for the current budget year.
Post SWPs after... - Click to post SWPs. Uncheck if posting is not necessary.

Set Viewable - Allows a non-admin with the explicit rights "Can View Non-Default Budgets" on the user record to access this budget.
Freeze/Unfreeze - Freeze all months through the Freeze Through Date, or unfreeze the budget. Budgets are automatically frozen when actuals are loaded.
Lock/Unlock Worksheets - Lock or unlock all worksheets within the budget. Martus recommends keeping all budget worksheets locked unless actively budgeting.
Export - Export the budget into an Excel file. (Note this is the ONLY format that can be manipulated in Excel and re-imported into Martus.)
Archive - Create a copy of the budget in the Manage Archived Budgets tab. Martus recommends archiving the budget before making any major changes in case of mistakes.
Set Default Reference Data - Set the default reference data on that budget's worksheets. The options are: current or prior year budget, actuals, actuals + budget, or 12-month trailing actuals.

Worksheet Management Tab

View the list of worksheets in the selected budget, and manage their settings here. This tab is the only tab in Planner Setup available to non-admins who have "Planner Setup" selected on their user record.

Manage worksheets in other budgets/years - Use the drop downs to choose which budget and/or fiscal year to manage.
Add a new worksheet to a budget - Create a new worksheet with a dimension combination that does not currently exist in this budget. The Add Worksheet dialog allows you to assign owners and approvers and specify a target for the worksheet.
Action menu - Select one or more worksheets using the check box to the left of the name to load the action menu:
- Set Target - Set the gain/loss target using a % increase/decrease or manually.
- Update Owners & Approvers - Assign or remove users as owners and approvers.
- Lock/Unlock - Lock or unlock worksheets.
- Delete - Delete the worksheet from the budget.

Import Tab

Import budgets based on an exported budget template into Martus. Choose the fiscal year for the imported budget, and then the file to import.

Import into Existing Budget - The imported budget overwrites existing lines and creates new lines.
Create New Budget - A new budget is created from the import.

Manage Archived Budgets Tab

Archiving a budget before making major changes is best practice, as it makes it easy to restore if there is a mishap.

Select a year and budget to view the Action menu.
- Restore - Restore the budget to the Budget Management tab.
- Delete - Delete the budget permanently.

Set Budget Year Tab

Set as Budget Year - Set the default year for the Planner section.

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Worksheet Status - Locked versus Unlocked

Locking Worksheets

When actively budgeting, a worksheet is unlocked and users are updating it. Once it has been submitted, the worksheet will be automatically locked, and no further changes can be made to the worksheet or an associated special purpose worksheet. It is recommended that all worksheets in a budget stay locked once the budget has been approved to prevent accidental changes.

Locking Versus Freezing

When a budget is frozen worksheet, it impacts all worksheets within the budget and all months up through frozen through date and cannot be modified. This is typically done when actuals are loaded into the budget and no changes should be made to those months. When a worksheet is locked no changes can be made to any row or column within the budget worksheets. Worksheets can be locked or unlocked independently of one another. Locking a worksheet indicates that the work of budgeting has been completed for that worksheet and no further changes should be made. It is important to ensure all worksheets are locked in approved budgets.

Locking and Unlocking from the Worksheet

A Martus Admin or any non-admin user who has "Can Unlock Worksheets" on their User Permissions can lock or unlock a worksheet.

Start on Planner > Worksheets.
Click Edit (pencil icon) next to any worksheet.
Click the Lock icon to unlock/lock the worksheet.
OR
Go to Worksheet Actions > Submit and Lock or Unlock.

Locking and Unlocking from Planner Setup

A Martus Admin can lock or unlock all or specific worksheets from Planner > Planner Setup.

Unlocking/Locking all worksheets in a budget:

Start in Planner > Planner Setup.
Select the check box for the appropriate budget.
Click on Lock Worksheets or Unlock Worksheets.

Unlocking/Locking one or more worksheets in a budget:

Start on Planner > Planner Setup.
Go to the Worksheet Management tab.
Select one or more worksheets.
Click on Unlock or Lock.

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Worksheet Status - Frozen vs. Unfrozen

Frozen Budget Worksheets

When a budget is frozen, all months up through the Frozen Through date are frozen and cannot be modified, for all worksheets in the budget. Reforecast budgets are typically frozen while budget managers are working through them.

All budget worksheets for a single budget are frozen in three ways:

Load actuals to existing budget - When actuals are loaded into an existing budget, a date indicated by the user determines the Frozen Through date. The budget is automatically frozen.
Create a new budget - When creating a new budget based on current year actuals and budget, Martus will use the Last Closed Month date to load actuals and set the Frozen Through date. The budget is automatically frozen.
Manually freeze a budget - You can freeze a budget manually, and indicate the Frozen Through date by using the Budget Actions menu in Planner > Planner Setup > Budget Management.

Freezing All Budget Worksheets

A Martus Admin can freeze all worksheets in a budget.

Start in Planner > Planner Setup.
Select the check box for the appropriate budget.
Click Freeze.
Enter the appropriate Freeze Through Date. The default is the current Last Closed Month, however any month in the fiscal year can be selected.
Click Freeze.

Unfreezing All Budget Worksheets

A Martus Admin can unfreeze all worksheets in a budget.

Start in Planner > Planner Setup.
Select the check box for the appropriate budget.
Click Unfreeze.

Changing the Frozen Through Date on a Budget

If the Frozen Through date needs to be changed, use the following steps.
NOTE: This method does NOT change what actuals are loaded into the budget.

Start in Planner > Planner Setup.
Select the check box for the appropriate budget.
Click Unfreeze.
Select the check box for the appropriate budget again.
Enter the appropriate Freeze Through date.
Click Freeze.

Freezing or Unfreezing Individual Budget Worksheets

A Martus Admin can unfreeze or freeze any worksheet in a frozen budget.

Start in Planner > Worksheets.
Click Edit (pencil icon) next to any worksheet.
Go to Worksheet Actions > Unfreeze/Freeze Worksheet.

Notes:

Frozen months cannot be updated on the worksheet itself, by posting SPWs, or by posting a personnel scenario to the budget. (You will still be able to open up the SPW and edit the numbers but if the SPW is posted to the budget and numbers from the the frozen months have been updated, those frozen month numbers will not show in the budget.)
If the budget is not frozen, individual worksheets cannot be unfrozen or refrozen. However, if a budget is frozen, an Admin can temporarily unfreeze a worksheet in that budget. The worksheet can be refrozen with a Worksheet Action, and it is automatically frozen when the Admin user leaves the worksheet.
Uploading a Martus budget into Intacct is not affected by locked or frozen worksheets.
A Locked worksheet means that no changes can be made to any of the months in the worksheet. Individual worksheets can both be locked and frozen.
Actuals can be updated at any point within a frozen budget by selecting the budget from Planner >Planner Setup Worksheet Management and clicking on Load Actuals. This will update all months with actuals through the date selected as the frozen through month.
Approved budgets that are approved, simply need to be locked, they do not also need to be frozen.

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Creating a budget from no reference data

It is possible to start a budget without a previous budget or one based on actuals. This is normally an anomolly as it is common practice to create a budget based on prior year actuals or budget. Often, this approach is used to create a Pre-Allocation Budget.

Create the Blank Budget - Step by Step

Go to Planner > Planner Setup > Budget Management tab.
Click Create Budget.
Choose the option to create an empty budget.
Select the newly created budget and click Set as Planner. You are given the option to unlock all worksheets.
- Click Okay to unlock all worksheets and allow users to begin making edits.
- Click Cancel to keep the status of the worksheets unchanged.
Go to the Worksheet Management tab.
Click Add Worksheet and fill out the form as needed.
Click Save.
Add all needed worksheets.
Go to Planner > Worksheets.
Click Edit (pencil icon) next to a worksheet.
Click Worksheet Actions > Add Line to add the needed accounts to the worksheet.
Note: Depending on your Martus configuration, you may also need to add additional dimension values such as program, activity, or project codes to each line.
Enter the budgeted amounts using the Budget Widget.
When you are completely done, click Submit to lock the budget worksheet; this also submits it for approval if you are using that feature of Martus.

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Budget Worksheet Owners and Approvers (Video)

Martus Admins are responsible for managing budget worksheet owners and approvers. Non-admin users with the "Planner Setup" permission can manage owners and approvers for the worksheets to which they have dimensional access.

One of the easiest and most efficient ways to update budget owners and approvers is via the Planner > Planner Setup > Worksheet Management tab.

Notes:

A budget worksheet can only have one owner, but it can have multiple approvers.
Approvers can be assigned approval levels for customers with the Advanced Plus and higher subscription. Approval levels are used to manage the flow of approval emails.*
Any user with the appropriate dimension access and software permissions can edit an unlocked budget worksheet. (You don't have to be an owner or approver to edit a worksheet.)
Assigning a user as an owner or an approver does NOT grant dimension access! When you assign owners and approvers, you must make sure they have the appropriate dimension permissions. You'll be notified at the time of assignment if they don't have appropriate dimension permissions, and if you are an Admin user, you can add those permissions at that time.
Budget worksheets are locked when they are submitted for approval
Only a Martus Admin, or a non-admin with the privilege Unlock Budget Worksheets can unlock a budget worksheet
When you copy a budget, the owners and approvers are copied too.
When you create a new budget based on a budget from a prior year, the owners and approvers are carried forward to the new budget.
If you are an owner or approver and take the action that would normally prompt an email, Martus will suppress that email as it assumes you know that the worksheet was submitted or approved (by you) and thus the email would be redundant.
Notification emails cannot be turned off within Martus. Best practice is to handle them within your email software by sending the emails to a folder or archiving them.

Approval Levels for Advanced Plus and Higher Subscriptions

Levels do not need to be used. Non-hierarchical approvers all have the same level - typically 0 - on the same worksheet.
Levels and approvers are unique to each worksheet.
Any user can be an approver on any worksheet they have dimension access to, and they can have different approval levels on different worksheets.
Levels can be set from 0 to 99, but do not need to be used sequentially. The lowest approver is 0, and the 99 is highest.
- Multiple approvers can have the same level. They function as a 'group' of approvers.
- When a worksheet is submitted, the submission approval email goes to the owner and the lowest level approver(s).
- Once the lowest level user approves the worksheet, the next level user gets an approval email letting them know of the status.
- If the lowest level user denies approval of the worksheet, the owner will get an email with the status.
The highest level approver can approve the worksheet, even if lower level users have denied it.
Approvals can be done out of order, but emails are sent in order. All approvals must be done in order for the worksheet to show as fully approved.
When any approver denies the worksheet, only the owner gets an email letting them know, and the next level is not alerted.

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Approving and Denying Budget Worksheets (Video)

The Approval feature is part of the Martus Essentials, Plus, and Premium subscriptions.

The video below illustrates how to approve and deny budget worksheets within Martus.

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Changing a Budget via Export/Import

Whenever a global change is needed on a worksheet or budget, it may be easier to export, update, and then import the worksheet or budget. Some examples include:

Changing dimensions on worksheets
Adjusting all account lines across all worksheets
Adding a line dimension to multiple worksheets/lines
Adding/removing worksheets

These methods can only be used if you do not have any SPWs that affect the worksheet(s) for which you are making changes. If you have SPWs of any kind that affect the worksheet, please contact Martus Support for assistance.

Method 1 – One Worksheet at a Time

Open a worksheet.
Click Worksheet Actions > Export Worksheet (xlsx).
Open the file from your computer.
Make changes as needed and save the file. If you change dimensions for any rows, use the Id columns to the right - these are the columns Martus will use on import.
Go to the worksheet and click Worksheet Actions > Import Worksheet (xlsx).
Choose the file from your computer and click Import.
Wait for Martus to finish importing.
Review changes in Planner > Summary reports.

If sheet dimensions were changed, you may need to delete the old worksheet from the budget in Planner > Planner Setup > Worksheet Management.

Method 2 – All Affected Worksheets within a Budget

This method allows you to update or change all affected lines regardless of the worksheet.

Go to Planner > Planner Setup.
From the Budget Management tab, select the budget by checking the box next to the name.
Click Export from the action menu.
Open the downloaded file in Excel.
Navigate to the "Budget" sheet.
Modify all of the desired worksheet lines. If you change dimensions for any rows, use the Id columns to the right - these are the columns Martus will use on import.
Delete the sheet named "Setup".
Save the updated Excel file.
Go to Planner > Planner Setup > Import tab.
Change the year if needed and click Load.
To create a new budget:
1. Choose Create New Budget.
2. Specify a Budget Name.
3. Choose the file from your computer.
4. Click Import.
5. Go to your home screen to await the completion of the import.
6. Go back to Planner > Planner Setup and set the new budget as the Planner and/or Dashboard default as desired.
To import into an existing budget:
1. Choose Import into Existing Budget.
2. Select the Destination Budget from the dropdown.
3. Choose the file from your computer.
4. Click Import.
5. Go to your home screen to await the completion of the import.
6. Go back to Planner > Planner Setup > Worksheet Management tab.
7. Delete any unneeded worksheets using the action menu.

Notes on Importing

Martus will add new and adjust existing, but won't remove unmatched lines when importing.
- New lines: Martus will import all new lines from the file.
- Adjusted lines: Martus will update all values for the line to the values found in the file.
- Removed lines: Martus will do nothing - the lines that were in the budget originally remain unchanged.
To remove lines and/or worksheets from a budget, you may want to utilize the export/import method and the option to import into a new budget. The new budget only contains the lines indicated in your file.
The tab with the budget in Excel must be called "Budget". The file names do not matter.
There can be no duplicate combinations of dimensions and accounts. (We recommend testing this by concatenating these fields in a separate column and checking for duplicates.) If there are duplicates, the last one processed is the only one that will be imported into the budget ("last one wins").
There can be no Excel formulas in any field that is to be imported. Copy and paste as values if needed.

Anatomy of the Import File

Dimension & Account Friendly names - Yellow:
These are for reference only. You can fill them in, leave them blank, or even delete those columns entirely.
Monthly Amounts - Green:
The total per month for that line.
Notes - Purple:
The Notes columns (1-12) apply to each corresponding month in your fiscal year. There's a 150-character maximum on each note.
ID Columns - Blue:
- The columns for the Dimension IDs and account numbers are shown to the right of the Notes columns.
- The headings for these columns are critical and must be in the format of the dimension name plus Id (for example, DepartmentId). Only optional dimensions may be left blank.
- Utilize the code ID, not the name, and ensure there are no leading or trailing spaces.

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Top Level Budgeting

Top Level and All Level Budgeting allow budgeting at alternate dimension levels even though actuals are posted elsewhere.

Top Level and All Level Budgeting are optional features of Martus. They are available for clients at any subscription level. These features must be activated by Martus Support. If you would like to utilize these features, create a ticket through the Knowledge Base if you are a direct Martus customer, or contact your Martus reseller if you are supported through one of our Martus partners.

Top Level Budgeting

The Top Level Budgeting feature helps when you want to budget at a parent dimension level even though actuals are posted to children of that dimension value.

When budgeting, the actuals shown in the reference data section of the worksheet include the total for all child dimensions plus the parent.
If you drill down from the reference data, you’ll see all the transactions that make up that total, whether those transactions are at the child or parent level.
When you load actuals into a budget, the values for the parent and its child dimensions are included in the budgeted totals.

Examples where you might like to use Top Level Budgeting:

A parent department named New Generation, with child departments for Preschoolers and School-Age.
A parent program for External Affairs, with child programs for Federal and State. All Level Budgeting is a feature available within Top Level Budgeting that allows reference data to be summarized for all dimension values.

All Level Budgeting

The All Level Budgeting feature helps when you want to budget for all values within a dimension, rather than a singular or top level. This requires a worksheet with one dimension that is blank.

When budgeting, the actuals shown in the reference data section of the worksheet include the total for dimensions on the blank dimension.
If you drill down from the reference data, you’ll see all the transactions that make up that total across all dimension values for the blank dimension.
When you load actuals into a budget, the values for blank dimensions are loaded into the budget.

Setting Top or All-Level Budgeting

Warning: If you do budget at the top level for a given dimension value, you should not also budget to the children of that dimension!

Each worksheet will have an option at the top to select Top Level for each dimension. The best practice is to only use top level budgeting on one dimension at a time.

Edit the worksheet.
Click Top Level or All Levels next to the appropriate dimension.
Martus refreshes and will update the reference data to include the child dimension amounts.

Loading Actuals into a Top-Level Budget

There are considerations to be aware of with top-level budgeting when loading actuals.

When loading actuals, there is an option to Limit to Existing worksheets. When unselected, Martus will create new worksheets as needed for all lines with actuals.
When using top level budgeting, select the appropriate dimension so that Martus will create the worksheet at the top level, rather than the lower levels, of that dimension.

Notes:

Utilizing more than one dimension for top level is not recommended. While the actuals will be summarized when loading actuals, Martus only supports one dimension for loading actuals.
All Level Budgeting and loading actuals: When you Load Actuals and do not limit the results to existing worksheets, no worksheets are created for All Levels. If you want to include any All Levels worksheets in the output, be sure to create them before running Load Actuals.
If you use the Planner Allocations feature of Martus, top-level budgeting is used on all of the Pre-Allocation worksheets.

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Planner Allocations

The Planner Allocations feature provides for a different type of budget, called a pre-allocation budget. Each worksheet in a pre-allocation budget can be allocated on a percentage basis to any worksheet(s) in the default Planner budget.

Planner Allocations are an optional feature of Martus, available with the Standard Plus, Plus, and Premium level subscriptions. This feature must be enabled by support. If you would like to utilize this feature, create a ticket through the Knowledge Base if you are a direct Martus customer, or contact your Martus reseller if you are supported through one of our Martus partners.

Important Facts about Pre-Allocation Budgets

The pre-allocation budget should include worksheets only for those dimensions that need to be allocated.
Pre allocation budget will allow you to designate a singular percentage allocation that will be applied across that worksheet
The allocation percentage has to total to 100
Each worksheet within a pre-allocation budget should only budget to those accounts that need to be allocated. Do not add accounts that are allocated elsewhere such as in Personnel Budgeting.
Each pre-allocation budget can be managed within Martus with the same tools used for Planner budgets. This includes reporting, setting the default pre-allocation budget, and other standard functions such as copying, importing and exporting, using SPWs, and the approval process.
The pre-allocation budget, when allocated to the default Planner budget, will replace all values associated with the lines in the pre-allocation budget.

Creating a Pre-Allocation Budget

Go to Planner > Planner Setup > Budget Management tab.
Select the appropriate year if needed.
Click Create Budget.
Choose Empty Budget.
Give the budget a Name.
Choose Pre-Allocation from the Budget Type drop-down.
Click Create Budget.
Select the budget that was just created.
Click Set as Allocation.

Adding Worksheets to a Pre-Allocation Budget

Go to Planner > Planner Setup > Worksheet Management tab.
Change the budget drop down to be set to your Pre Allocation Budget you just created
Click Load.
Click Add Worksheet.
The worksheets you add here will be the numbers that are allocated out to your Planner Default
Fill out the fields as appropriate.
Most Planner Allocation worksheets have one dimension that is left blank so that roll up amounts across that dimension can be utilized in the budget worksheet

Note: Most Planner Allocation worksheets have one dimension that is blank so that roll-up amounts across that dimension can be utilized in the budget worksheet.
Click Add Worksheet.

Adding Lines and Values to a Worksheet

Go to Planner > Worksheets.
Select the Year and Budget from the dropdown and click Load.
Click Edit (pencil icon) for the appropriate worksheet.
Click Line Actions > Add Line.
Select the appropriate Account and any line dimensions desired.
Click Add Line.
Add additional lines as needed. Note: Remember that only lines that need to be allocated should be added.
If needed, click Show Reference Data or use > (carrot) on the row. As an example, all reference data for the Department below is showing regardless of what Corporation it is tied to as Martus will automatically select the "Top Level" option for the empty dimension.
Update the line with the appropriate budget numbers.

Allocating the Worksheet

From Planner > Worksheets, select a worksheet to edit.
Click Worksheet Actions > Allocate worksheet.
Click Add New Target and select the appropriate worksheet to allocate.
Enter the percentage to allocate to the target worksheet and click + to save.
Continue adding targets worksheets as needed.
When finished, click Post to Planner Budget to post the allocated amounts to the matching lines in the default Planner budget.

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