NetSuite Budgeting Features
Implementing a budget is crucial for effective financial management as it provides a roadmap for resource allocation, performance evaluation, and strategic planning. By utilizing NetSuite’s budgeting features, organizations can seamlessly create, manage, and track budgets, allowing users to monitor actual financial performance against their planned budgets at high and low levels of detail. NetSuite’s robust reporting tools enable users to generate real-time insights into budget variances, facilitating proactive decision-making and timely adjustments. This visibility empowers stakeholders to make better decisions around resource optimization, financial variances, and overall organization trends.
The following guide will enable users to enable budgeting features, load their budget into NetSuite, and then analyze the results and variances.
Users with more dynamic reporting requirements should consider NetSuite Planning and Budgeting (NSPB). NSPB allows users additional flexibility such as multiple budget and forecast scenarios, additional dimensions, advanced calendar reporting (YTD, QTD, H1/H2, and more), and alternate GL-account roll-ups and summary formulas.
Step 1: Enable Multiple Budgeting Feature (One-World Users, Enabled by Admin)
Log in to NetSuite:
Enter your credentials to access your NetSuite account.
Navigate to System Preferences:
Go to Setup > Company > Enable Features.
Enable Budgeting:
Under the Accounting tab, look for the Advanced Features section.
Check the box next to Multiple Budget.
Click Save to apply your changes.
Step 2: Loading Budgets
Option 1: Create a Budget Via Budget Tool
Navigate to Budget Creation:
Go to Transactions > Financial > Lists > Setup Budgets
Select an applicable account group
Click on the Account Type dropdown and select the type of account you’d like to load your budget to (Income, Expense, COGS, etc)
Select Required Budget Fields:
Enter a value for all required fields including Subsidiary, Fiscal Year, Budget Category (if enabled)
User may need to setup a new budget category
Global vs Local Option on budget category
Global - Uses root subsidiary currency
Local - Uses selected subsidiaries designated currency
Select Optional Budget Fields
Enter a value for all desired optional fields such as Customer/Project, Item, Location, Class, Department, etc.
5. Load the Budget
Enter the budget amounts for each applicable account and period
There is an option to Distribute of Fill
Enter a value in the first period for a given accounts and select Distribute or Fill
Distribute - Equally divides and applies a single value across all periods
Fill - Duplicates an applies a single value across all periods
6. Review and Adjust:
Check the entries for accuracy.
Adjust any figures as needed.
7. Save the Budget:
Click Save to finalize your budget.
Option 2: Create a Budget Via Budget CSV Import
Download CSV Import Template
Navigate to Transactions > Financial > Setup Budgets > Import
Select Budget Template File link to download template
2. Stage budget load in spreadsheet
Load applicable values for all fields you wish to use, delete entire column of any fields not used
Each intersection requires a new line, for example, you need to load revenue for the same Year, Category, Customer, Item, Account, and Subsidiary. They need one value reflected in Department 1, and the other to Department 2. They would setup the CSV as follow:
Enter all applicable values and save as CSV for import.
Do not change the header names, this will ensure mapping automatically completed when it’s time to load the budget.
3. Load budget via CSV Import
From the Import Assistant, select the CSV file to import and click next.
Ensure all fields are properly mapped to NetSuite, click run
4. Review and Adjust
Check the entries for accuracy
Adjust any figures as needed
Step 3: Review and Report Budgets
Review Income Statement Budget
Go to Financial > Reports > Budget Income Statement to review your budget in total.
2. Monitor Budget Performance:
Go to Financial > Reports > Budgets vs. Actuals to review your budget against actuals
If you loaded budgets with classifications, those will align with actual transactions loaded with the same classifications. You may filter on these classifications at the bottom of the screen
3. Make Adjustments:
If necessary, return to Transactions > Financial > Manage Budgets > List to make any updates or adjustments.
Summary
NetSuite’s native budgeting tool provides organizations with a strong foundation for creating, managing, and tracking budgets, as well as monitoring financial performance against budgeted figures. This functionality supports basic budget creation and variance analysis, aiding in decision-making and financial oversight. However, as organizations' budgeting needs evolve, particularly when dealing with more complex forecasting, scenario planning, or detailed analysis, the native tool’s limitations become clear. NetSuite Planning and Budgeting (NSPB) steps in to fill these gaps by enabling more flexible planning, including the ability to handle multiple forecasting scenarios, manage time-based reporting with greater precision, and incorporate complex account structures. For organizations requiring these advanced features to support their financial strategies, NSPB offers an ideal solution, providing enhanced flexibility and deeper insight into budgeting and planning. As businesses outgrow the native tool, transitioning to NSPB becomes a natural step toward more sophisticated financial management.
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Author: Ryan Fischels
Role: Associate Consultant