Budgets & Forecasting

Budgets turns your plan into a live control. Set targets by account, period, and dimension, then watch budget vs actual update in real time as the ledger posts — and roll the numbers forward into forecasts for revenue, cash, and demand.

Build a budget

Go to XO Books → Budgets → New budget.
Name it and choose the financial year and base period (monthly or quarterly).
Pick the scope — whole company, or a dimension (department, project, branch).
Enter targets per account. You can:
- type figures directly,
- spread an annual figure evenly or seasonally across periods, or
- import from Excel.
Save.

📷 Screenshot: the budget grid with monthly columns and per-account rows.

Track budget vs actual

Open Budgets → Budget vs actual.
Choose the budget and period range.
XO shows budget, actual, variance, and % used per line, drawing actuals live from the ledger.
Filter by dimension to see, say, a single project’s performance.

Tip: pin the budget-vs-actual view to an XO Analytics dashboard for an always-on board.

Forecasting

Go to Budgets → Forecast.
Choose a basis: prior-year actuals, budget, or trailing trend.
Adjust growth assumptions per line.
Generate the P&L, cash-flow, and demand forecast and compare scenarios side by side.

Multi-dimension budgets

Because the ledger tags entries with cost center, project, and branch, you can budget at any of those levels and consolidate up — e.g. branch budgets that sum into a regional plan.

Best practices

Budget at the level you manage (department or project), not just company-wide.
Revisit forecasts monthly as actuals come in — XO keeps the variance current automatically.
Use seasonal spread for businesses with Ramadan/Hajj or end-of-year peaks.

Troubleshooting

Actuals look low/high. Check the dimension filter and that postings are tagged to the right cost center/project.
Can’t delete a budget. Budgets tied to a locked period are retained for audit — archive instead.