Overview of Budgets

MonkeyPod makes it easy to create budgets and track spending as it happens. This article walks you through how to create and manage your budgets in MonkeyPod.

How do budgets work in my MonkeyPod?

When you set up a budget in your MonkeyPod, you choose a specific scope for the budget. The scope can be based on:

1. Organization: The budget scope covers your whole organization.
2. Class: Budget scope is restricted to a specific class of expenses.
3. Grant: Budgets is tied to a grant.
4. Tag: Budget is tied transactions with a specific tag.

All of these budget types allow you to track budgeted versus actual amounts in real time. For example, if you create a budget based on a tag for a particular program, each time you enter a transaction that uses that tag it is automatically reflected in the "actual" amount for your budget.

Where do I enter a budget in my MonkeyPod?

Budget tools can be found by selecting the Finance menu.

Select List Budgets to view all your current budgets. To create a new budget, choose Create a new budget at the top of the list, or choose Create Budget from the Finance menu.

When creating a new budget, first choose the scope of the budget. For example, does it apply to your whole organization or just to a specific class, tag or grant?

Then give the budget a name—be specific enough so you and your team know what it covers.

Next enter the start and end date for the budget. Only transactions that fall in that date range will be represented in the budget.

Marking a budget as private

We understand—sometimes you need to keep budgets private! In those cases, select the checkbox under Private budget? and choose only those users in your MonkeyPod who should have access.

Entering budget lines

Next, decide if you're going to manually enter the budgeted amounts, or if you're importing them. Make your selection under the How do you want to enter budget lines?" heading by choosing either Manually or CSV upload.

If you're manually entering the budget lines, work your way through the various income and expense accounts listed on the screen, entering the budgeted amount for each. You can also enter notes about a particular line item in your budget, and those notes will appear below the account name on the budget.

If you're uploading your budget lines, follow the onscreen instructions that appear when you choose the CSV upload option.

How do the actuals get into my budget?

When you enter a revenue or expense transaction, MonkeyPod automatically compares it to your budgets. If the transaction falls within a budget’s date range and scope, it’s included as actual spending or revenue ("actuals") for that budget.

For example, the transaction below would record $500.00 of actuals for account 9000: Travel for a budget for a budget with any of the following scopes:

• Organization level
• Class-level budget tied to Fundraising
• The Tag-level budget tied to the 2023 Film Festival tag
• The Grant-level budget for the Community Challenge grant

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you do a rollup of multiple budgets?

Yes! Check out our article on Budget Roll-Ups to learn how to do this.

Can I bring in my budget lines with a CSV upload? 

Yes! Simply select CSV upload and follow the onscreen instructions there.