🌍 This feature is only available in the following countries: 🇫🇷 France, 🇺🇸 United States.
The "Budget Forecast" feature in Springly lets you manage your nonprofit's activity by comparing your projected results for each fund against what is actually happening in real time.
In this article, we'll cover:
- What is the Budget Forecast for?
- Enabling the Budget Forecast on your platform
- How does the Budget Forecast work?
- How to interpret the progress bars?
What is the Budget Forecast for?
The Budget Forecast lets you set target results for each budget item and track them against actual results throughout the year.
This takes place at the accounting period level.
It's a management tool that helps you answer one key question throughout the year: does the actual situation match what was originally planned?
Enabling the Budget Forecast on your platform
To enable this feature, you simply need to have activated "Funds & Allocation" from Settings > Accounting, under the "Advanced Accounting" section.
You can access the feature from Accounting > Funds & Allocation, under the "Budget Forecast" tab.
How does the Budget Forecast work?
Select the accounting period you want to work with using the dropdown menu at the top of the page.
Your funds and budget items are displayed (see Creating funds and budget items), along with the actual result for the period for each one.
👉 Reminder: actual result for a budget item = (sum of revenues allocated to the budget item) - (sum of expenditures allocated to the budget item).
The result can be positive (a surplus) or negative (a deficit).
In the "Projected Result ✏️" column, enter the amount, positive or negative, that you originally projected for the budget item. Click "Save" to record it.
A progress bar appears instantly to show where you stand, using a color-coded display.
The actual result updates instantly: if you add, edit, or delete an allocation, the progress bar updates automatically.
You can download the page results as a PDF or Excel file.
How do I interpret the progress bars?
Results are displayed using an intuitive color code:
- Blue progress bar: the actual budget is between 0 and 100% of the projected budget, in the "same direction." So if you had planned to be in the negative, you are in the negative, but not as much as expected; and if you had planned to be in the positive, you are, but below the projected amount.
- Green progress bar: the actual budget is positive and exceeds 100% of the projected budget. It therefore generated a result higher than expected.
- Red progress bar: the actual budget exceeds 100% of the projected budget and is negative. It therefore lost more money than expected.
Please note: progress bars are not included in the Excel or PDF exports available from the button on the page.
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