Creating and Managing Budgets

A budget lets you plan how much money your organization expects to receive and spend during a fiscal year. Once you create a budget, NP Ledger can compare it to your actual transactions so you can see whether you're on track.

Your board, funders, and auditors expect you to have a budget. More importantly, comparing your budget to actual spending is how you catch problems early — like a program that's burning through its grant faster than expected, or revenue that's falling behind projections. The Budget vs. Actual report puts this comparison in front of you automatically.

• At least one fiscal year set up (see Setting Up Your First Fiscal Year)
• Your chart of accounts should include the revenue and expense accounts you want to budget for (see Chart of Accounts)
• Budgets require a Standard plan or higher

Creating a budget

1. Go to Managing Books > Budgets (in the sidebar).
2. Click "New Budget."
3. Enter a name for the budget — for example, "FY2026 Operating Budget" or "Youth Program Grant Budget."
4. Select the fiscal year this budget covers.
5. Optionally set an approved date if your board has already approved the budget.
6. Optionally copy line items from an existing budget by selecting it from the Copy From dropdown. This saves time if your budget is similar to last year's.
7. Click "Create Budget." You'll be taken to the budget editor to add line items.

Adding line items

Each line item represents a budgeted amount for one account. You can optionally scope a line item to a specific fund, program, or project.

1. In the budget editor, find the Add Line Item section below the existing items.
2. Select an account — only revenue and expense accounts are available.
3. Enter the annual amount you're budgeting for that account.
4. Optionally select a fund, program, or project to scope the line item. Leave these blank to budget at the account level across all funds.
5. Add notes if you want to document the reasoning behind the amount.
6. Click "Save." The line item appears in the list immediately — no page reload needed.
7. Repeat for each account you want to budget.

Tip: If you copied line items from a previous budget, they'll already be listed. You can edit the amounts or delete items you no longer need.

Making a budget active

Only one budget can be active per fiscal year. The active budget is the one used in the Budget vs. Actual report.

1. Open the budget you want to activate.
2. Check the "Active" checkbox in the budget form.
3. Save. If another budget was active for this fiscal year, it will automatically be deactivated.

Editing and deleting budgets

• To edit, click the budget name in the list, then modify any fields or line items.
• To delete, click Delete on the budget's row. You'll be asked to confirm.

Important: Deleting a budget removes all its line items. If you just want to stop using a budget in reports, deactivate it instead of deleting it.

• Your budget appears in the budget list with the correct fiscal year and status (Active or Draft)
• Line items show the accounts and amounts you intended
• The Budget vs. Actual report shows your budgeted amounts alongside actual transactions

• Forgetting to activate the budget — A draft budget won't appear in the Budget vs. Actual report. Make sure to check the Active box.
• Budgeting the wrong fiscal year — If your budget and transactions are in different fiscal years, the Budget vs. Actual report will show zero actuals. Double-check the fiscal year selection.
• Duplicating line items — Each combination of account, fund, program, and project can only appear once per budget. If you need to split an account across funds, create separate line items for each fund.

Accountant note: NP Ledger budgets support line-item detail by fund, program, and project, which aligns with the functional expense reporting requirements under ASU 2016-14. When you scope budget line items to specific programs, the Budget vs. Actual report can show variance at the program level — useful for grant compliance and board reporting.