Budget data import file

 

Budgets can be brought to Procountor with budget data import file. There are two types of budgets:

• Basic budget; budgeting is done normally on account level and on a monthly basis.
• Dimension budget; the perspective is widened also towards dimensions and their items.

Import file is created with a budget template that is covered more thoroughly under the next heading of this article.

When budgets have been imported to Procountor, their data can be used as comparison and follow-up inofrmation with various reports such as income statement, balance sheet and management reporting.

 

Budget template

 

Budget template function is used to create a template in Excel format that is suitable for importing data. Budget templates are created in Reports > Budget reports > Budget template.

Type selection determines if a basic budget or a dimension budget is created. If dimension budget is chosen, also a dimension has to be chosen in the lowest field of the window (Dimension field).

Accounts selection is used to choose between income statement’s accounts, balance sheet’s accounts and all accounts.

Only used accounts selection determines that does the template include all accounts of the account chart or just the accounts that include transactions.

The financial year entered to Budget financial year field must exist in Management > Accounting info > Financial years.

Base figures from last year selection determines if figures from last year are used in the budget template. If the financial period is not a calendar year, two rows for different years will be created in the budget template. These rows have the base figures of the months that are in line with the financial period that the budget is made for.

The base figures are retrieved from transactions that are interpreted as business transactions. The database where the information is retrieved from is updated every night. If changes (that are intended to be included in the template) have been made within the same day to the financial year that is used with base figures, the database has to be updated manually. This can be done, for example, in Management > Accounting info > Financial years by clicking the Update reporting database button.

 

Budget data

 

The picture above includes an example of a budget data import file that is created with the Budget template function. When creating the import file, also this template can be used.

Below are listed some notes to be considered when importing budget data:

• If the budget is made on the level of dimensions and items, the dimensions and items have to be determined in the import file. A single import file can include information for different dimensions and their items. However, the budget template exported from Procountor can include information of only one dimension at a time. This means that if information for several dimensions is brought with a single import file, the information has to be compiled to the file manually.
• Several different versions of a budget can be made for the same time period. Version is determined in column 2 (B) of the import file. Versions can be named freely. If a new budget data import file is brought in with an existing version’s name, the new file will replace the older budget information. Even though it is possible to include information for several different budget versions in a single import file, it is recommended to import just one budget version with a single file in order to avoid any possible incoherence.
• If the budgeted period is not a calendar year, the budget information can be entered to different rows for different years. For example, the file can include a row for year 1 (with the information of July – December) and a row for year 2 (with the information of January – June) afterwards.
• When budget data is imported, the information is checked on the level of rows – therefore, the budget is not checked as an entity. In practice, this means that a newly imported budget does not completely replace the old budget – only the information that includes changes is replaced on the level of rows. If the new file contains a row that is already in the old budget with the same date and bookkeeping account, only the sum will be updated as per the new budget. If the new file contains a row that does not exist at all in the old budget, this row will be added to the budget when the file is imported.
• When budget values are edited in the cells of the CSV file, the following remarks should be noted:
  • If there is no budgeted value in a specific account for a specific month, the content of the cell in these kinds of situations has to be left to 0 – in other words, the zeros (that are in the budget template by default) should not be deleted; rather they should only be replaced with other values if needed.
  • Before the CSV file is saved and read into Procountor, it is recommended to check that the spreadsheet program (like Excel) is not saving the spreadsheet with thousand separator. If the thousand separator is active in the cells that are imported, the importing will not be successful.

 

Import file

The data import file is a file in which a single row constitutes a single record. Fields in the record are separated by semicolons. For this reason, semicolons may not be used in the data contained in the fields. The file does not have a separate header row, i.e. the records begin immediately from the first row. The CSV extension is used to identify the file, which can otherwise be named freely. If the file is saved in CSV format in Excel (not CSV (Macintosh) or CSV (MS-DOS)), the field separators and extension will automatically be correct. If the file is created using an OpenOffice spreadsheet, it will add quotation marks around the character strings when saving in CSV format. This setting must be cleared in order to make the file correctly readable.

 

Budget row record

The following record descriptions include the following information for each field, organized by record type:

• No.: the field’s number
• Excel cell: the field’s column in the Excel spreadsheet
• Field name / Data item: description of the data
• Obligatoriness: X = mandatory, (X) = mandatory depending on the circumstances, empty = optional
• Format: text, decimal, integer, date, or other specified form
• Permitted values / Verification: states the values permitted for the field in question / will the accuracy of the data be verified
• Default: the value assigned to empty fields
• Additional information: other relevant information concerning the field

 

Budget data import file uses only one type of record that is suitable for both basic budget and dimension budget.