{"id":29,"date":"2024-11-14T15:17:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/?p=29"},"modified":"2025-03-11T15:20:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T15:20:00","slug":"having-trouble-budgeting-quickbooks-online-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/14\/having-trouble-budgeting-quickbooks-online-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Having Trouble Budgeting? QuickBooks Online Can Help"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"846\" height=\"412\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1502423897.jpg\" alt=\"Cafe waitress using a digital tablet to manage orders. Woman using a touchscreen device that helps her to view and organize orders effectively, ensuring prompt and efficient service for the customers.\" class=\"wp-image-30\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1502423897.jpg 846w, https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1502423897-300x146.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1502423897-768x374.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use QuickBooks Online\u2019s setup tools and these tips for more effective budgeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating a budget that works may be the most challenging task you take on as you manage your company\u2019s accounting. Income can be unpredictable, and expenses are hard to estimate. But a well-crafted budget is key to running a successful business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe you\u2019ve tried before and given up. But maybe you haven\u2019t had the right tools or approached the process with the right mindset. Try using QuickBooks Online\u2019s budgeting tools and following these tips to see if you can\u2019t create and continue to maintain a budget that can serve as a roadmap for your spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Creating Your Budget<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click the gear icon in the upper right corner, then select&nbsp;<strong>Budgeting<\/strong>&nbsp;under&nbsp;<strong>Tools<\/strong>. Click&nbsp;<strong>Create<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>budget<\/strong>&nbsp;in the upper right. For&nbsp;<strong>Budget type<\/strong>, select<strong>&nbsp;Profit and Loss<\/strong>. This is most typical. It allows you to plan your budget around income and expenses over a specific time period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll have to make other decisions about your new budget:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Time period<\/strong>. We\u2019re going to create our budget for the upcoming fiscal year that starts in October of 2024. So we\u2019ll select\u00a0<strong>FY_2024_2025<\/strong>. Not sure when your fiscal year starts? Click the gear icon in the upper right and click\u00a0<strong>Account and settings<\/strong>, then\u00a0<strong>Advanced<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What\u00a0<strong>Budget format<\/strong>\u00a0do you want to use? We\u2019ll select\u00a0<strong>Consolidated<\/strong>, since we want an organization-wide plan. A\u00a0<strong>Subdivided<\/strong>\u00a0budget would allow you to create individual budgets based on location, class, department, or customer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do you want QuickBooks Online to\u00a0<strong>Pre-fill data<\/strong>? You won\u2019t make a selection here if you\u2019re starting from scratch. Otherwise, you can have numbers from a previous budget plugged into your new budget, which you can then edit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>QuickBooks helps you prepare the budget you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click&nbsp;<strong>Next<\/strong>&nbsp;when you\u2019re done. Your budget table will open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Filling In Your Budget<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you start filling in your budget, make sure the information at the top of the page is accurate. Is the fiscal year correct? The button in front of&nbsp;<strong>Compare reference data<\/strong>&nbsp;should be turned off, since we\u2019re starting from scratch. If you have past budget data or a year\u2019s worth of income and expenses that you want to bring in, make sure this option is turned on. QuickBooks Online will then ask you whether you want to transfer your&nbsp;<strong>Actuals<\/strong>&nbsp;(real money you received or spent) or your budget, and for what year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure the time span is set correctly for your initial work (<strong>Yearly<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Quarterly<\/strong>, or&nbsp;<strong>Monthly<\/strong>), though you can switch back and forth among them without losing data. Click the gear icon in the upper right to see your options there. You can&nbsp;<strong>Autosave budget<\/strong>&nbsp;(recommended),&nbsp;<strong>Hide empty rows<\/strong>&nbsp;(you won\u2019t want to do this until you have your budget set up), and make the<strong>&nbsp;Display density compact<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To create your budget, you simply enter numbers in the small boxes supplied. Columns are divided by months or quarters, depending on what you specified, and rows are labeled with budget items (Advertising, Gross Receipts, Legal &amp; Professional Fees, etc.). You simply enter numbers in the boxes that apply. You can either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enter an annual total in the\u00a0<strong>Budget totals<\/strong>\u00a0box and let QuickBooks Online divide it into 12 monthly numbers (click the small \u201csplit\u201d icon), or,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Put the monthly amount in the first month\u2019s (or quarter\u2019s) column, and QuickBooks Online will multiply it by 12 and enter the annual number (click the small arrow). You can also, of course, enter different numbers in each box to reflect changing budget needs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You can enter numbers manually in individual boxes or enter annual or monthly numbers. QuickBooks Online will divide or total them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019re done working with your budget, save it. You can come back anytime and make adjustments as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7 Budget Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Remember seasonal upswings and downswings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make your goals as realistic as possible and distinguish between essential and non-essential expenses. Enter your budget items for the bills and other expenses that must be covered before you add optional categories.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep it simple. Don\u2019t budget down to the last paper clip. You risk budget burnout, and your reports will be unwieldy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build in some backup funding. Just as you\u2019re supposed to have an emergency fund in your personal life, try to create one for your business.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overestimate your expenses, at least a little. This can help prevent \u201cborrowing\u201d from one budget category to make up for a shortfall in another.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make your employees part of the process. You shouldn\u2019t be secretive about the expense element of your budget. Try to get input from staff in areas where they have knowledge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Revisit your budget frequently. You should evaluate your progress at least once a month. In fact, you could even start by budgeting for only a couple of months at a time. You\u2019ll learn a lot about your spending and sales patterns that you can use for future periods. The<strong>\u00a0Budget Overview<\/strong>\u00a0report displays all of the data in your budget(s).\u00a0<strong>Budget vs. Actuals<\/strong>\u00a0shows you how you\u2019re adhering to your budget.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use us as a resource, too. We have plenty of experience budgeting, and may be able to provide input for you. We can certainly answer questions you have about creating and modifying budgets in QuickBooks Online, or work with you on other accounting issues you may be having.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Use QuickBooks Online\u2019s setup tools and these tips for more effective budgeting. Creating a budget that works may be the most challenging task you take on as you manage your company\u2019s accounting. Income can be unpredictable, and expenses are hard to estimate. But a well-crafted budget is key to running a successful business. Maybe you\u2019ve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-quickbooks-tips","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions\/31"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyc-cpa-hospitality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}