Budget vs Actual Report

The Budget Versus Actual Report helps you review budget activity for your GL strings.

You can use this report to see:

• original budget
• revised budget
• actual activity
• encumbrances
• pre encumbrances
• remaining balance

You can also open detail for transactions, budget activity, and related forms.

Task

Use the Budget Versus Actual Report to review budget balances, actual transactions, encumbrances, and related detail for a fiscal year.

Open the report

Go to: General Ledger > Reports > Budget Versus Actual Report

Set initial filters

Before you run the report, review the filters at the top.

Fiscal Year

Select the fiscal year you want to review.

Example: Fiscal Year 2026

Hide Zero Balance

Choose whether to include accounts with zero balance.

• No means zero balance accounts will still appear
• Yes means zero balance accounts will be hidden

Include Pre Encumbrances in Remaining Balance

Choose whether pre encumbrances should be part of the remaining balance calculation.

Pre encumbrances are:

• purchase requisitions started by a user
• change orders started by a user
• items not yet approved through workflow

If you include them, they appear in the remaining balance.

If you do not include them, they stay out of that calculation.

Approved encumbrances are still included.

Other filters

You may also filter by items such as:

• fund group
• specific fund
• expense accounts
• revenue accounts

Understand the default report view

When the report opens, it shows revenue and expense GL strings in your chart of accounts.

By default, you will see:

• account string
• account description
• original budget
• revised budget

Understand budget values

How budget values appear depends on your setup.

If you use the budgeting module

When next year expense forms are approved, the budget is adopted.

The report values then begin to populate for that year.

If you do not use the budgeting module

Your implementation team can load budget values for the year.

That allows the report to show budget data.

Review financial columns

The report can show several important values.

Actuals

Actuals are expenses posted in the system for that fiscal year.

Encumbrances

Encumbrances are purchase requisitions and change orders that:

• were approved through workflow
• have not yet been paid
• have not yet converted to actuals

Pre Encumbrances

Pre encumbrances are purchase requisitions and change orders that:

• were started
• are still moving through workflow
• are not yet approved

Remaining Balance

Remaining balance is based on:

• revised budget
• minus actuals
• minus encumbrances
• and optionally minus pre encumbrances

Use detail views

At the top of the report, you can choose different detail types.

Each selection changes what appears in the dropdown next to the account string.

Encumbrance Detail

Use Encumbrance Detail to view approved encumbrances for a GL string.

This detail shows the forms that created the encumbrances.

Examples include:

• purchase requisitions
• change orders

You can open the related form directly from the detail.

Some records may show a remaining balance of zero.

This usually means the amount was already spent and moved to actuals.

Pre Encumbrance Detail

Use Pre Encumbrance Detail to view forms still in workflow.

These are not official encumbrances yet.

Actual Detail

Use Actual Detail to view posted transactions for the GL string.

This shows payment forms tied to that account for the selected year.

You can open those forms directly for review.

Budget Detail

Use Budget Detail if you use the budgeting module.

This shows detail entered during the budget process for that account.

Examples may include:

• operating budget detail
• capital budget detail

Budget Amendment Detail

Use Budget Amendment Detail to view amendment forms tied to the GL string.

Budget Transfer Detail

Use Budget Transfer Detail to view transfer forms tied to the GL string.

Understand permissions for budget detail

Budget detail depends on user permissions.

If detail exists but does not appear, the user may be missing access.

These permissions are managed in Budget Role Assignments.

Access is based on:

• department
• account character

Account character includes:

• personnel
• operating
• capital

A user may have access to one type but not another.

For example, a user may see operating and capital detail but not personnel detail.

If permissions are updated, logging out and back in may be required for the change to apply 

Add or remove columns

All reports include a Columns option.

Use this to turn columns on or off.

For example, you can enable Department Name if you want department information in the report.

This helps you tailor the report to your needs.

Use pivot mode

The report also supports Pivot Mode.

Use Pivot Mode when you want a summary view.

Example:

• place Department Name in Row Groups
• place Encumbrances in Values

This lets you see encumbrance totals by department.

You may also see the number of related transactions.

Save a grid layout

If you often use the same report format, save your layout.

After adjusting the report, click Save Grid Layout.

The next time you run the report, the same layout will appear.

If you make new changes later, save the layout again.

Export report data

There are two export options.

Export from the table

If you filter the table and then export from within the table, the export reflects that filtered view.

This is useful when you want adjusted or narrowed results.

Excel export button

The Excel export button in the top right provides a more standard export.

This export uses the set report format and columns.

Use this option when you want the default style export.

Share a grid layout

Administrators can share saved grid layouts with other users.

To do this:

• save the layout
• choose the share option
• send it to another user

The other user can then accept that shared layout.

Once accepted, their report view updates to match it.

FAQ

What is the difference between encumbrances and pre encumbrances?

• Encumbrances are approved and not yet paid.

• Pre encumbrances are started but not yet approved.

Why do some encumbrance records show zero remaining balance?

• That usually means the amount was already spent.

• The value has likely moved into actuals.

Why can I not see budget detail for an account?

• You may not have the required permission.

• Budget detail access depends on department and account character.

Where are those permissions managed?

• Permissions are managed through Budget Role Assignments.

When should I use pivot mode?

• Use pivot mode when you want grouped totals instead of line level detail.

When should I save a grid layout?

• Save a layout when you want the same report format each time.