Every financial year starts with all budget lines at zero. Until you fill them in, your reports compare real spending against a plan of nothing, which tells nobody anything. Ten minutes here give the owners a plan to agree on and give you the figure to issue the fees from.
You find the budget on the Decisions page: the lines of the current year, grouped by category, with the cash cushion above them and the approval buttons at the bottom.
Steps
- Open Decisions and tap a line, for example Insurance.
- The line opens on its own sheet, with one tab per year. Enter the amount you expect for the whole year and a short reason ("Same as last year plus 4%"). Only the current year and the next one can be changed; past years are there to read.
- Save, and repeat for the lines you use. Leave the rest at zero.
- If you want a category split in two, for example one line per lift, use Add line on the Decisions page.
- Set the cash cushion: tap the cushion row and enter what the association wants to have in the account at the end of the year, after paying the year's expenses.
- When the figures are ready, press Approve this budget at the bottom of the page.
What happens next
- Each line shows planned next to spent so far. The second figure updates by itself every time you record an expense.
- The fees line fills itself in. The income line called Association fees is automatic: when you approve, it takes the amount the fees will have to raise. You never type it.
- Approving freezes the lines, the planned contributions to the funds and the cushion. If you change any of them later, Decisions says the budget changed and offers Approve the changes.
- The year's financial report and the pack for the annual meeting show the approved budget next to the real figures.
- Your balance is untouched. A budget is a plan, not a transaction.
Good to know
Where the fees come from. Once the budget is approved, Issue fees (on the Funds page or under the budget) splits between the units the approved expenses, less the other income, plus the planned contributions to the funds, plus what is missing to reach the cushion. The opening balance of the year counts towards the cushion, so a healthy account means lower fees.
In a hurry? If no budget is set yet, Issue fees asks for one figure, Total needed this year, approves it as a single line called General expenses and issues the fees. You can split it into lines later; the next issue only charges the difference.
Taking it to the annual meeting. If you have started the pack for the annual meeting, the buttons say Freeze proposal instead of Approve. The frozen figures are what the owners decide on; you can freeze a second or third proposal if the figures change before the meeting. After the meeting you approve the budget from the pack, as decided there. See Prepare the annual meeting.
The fees line, by hand. If your association collects fees in some other way, open the fees line and choose Edit manually. From then on you type it yourself, and Back to auto returns it to flatnumber.
You can change a budget during the year. If the association agrees to an unplanned repair, update the line and approve the changes so the comparison stays meaningful.
Next year's budget can be prepared in advance once next year exists. See Prepare next year early.
Common questions
Do I have to set a budget?
No. Everything else works without one. But fees come from the budget, and the comparison between plan and reality is the first thing owners ask for at the annual meeting.
A category I need is missing. Categories are the same for every association. Use the closest one and give the line a clear name with Add line.
Why can't I change last year's figures?
A closed year is kept as it was presented. You can open it to read the amounts, the reasons and the history of changes, but not edit it.
What is the difference between a proposal and an approval?
A proposal is what you take to the meeting; it is frozen so the owners decide on fixed figures. The approval is what the owners agreed, recorded with the meeting. Without a meeting pack, there is only the approval.