Cash flow and budgets

See where your cash came from and went, plan income and spending month by month, and compare the plan with what really happened.

Cash flow statement

Go to Reports › Cash Flow Statement and choose the period. It shows the money that came in and went out of your cash and bank accounts, in three parts:

• Operating: profit for the period, adjusted for what was earned or spent but not yet paid (customers who still owe you, bills you still have to pay, stock)
• Investing: buying and selling fixed assets
• Financing: loans taken or repaid, and money the owners put in or took out

At the bottom, the opening cash plus the net change equals your closing cash and bank balance. Choose Compare › With the period before to see two periods side by side.

The cash flow statement is part of the same plans as the Profit & Loss and the Balance Sheet.

Budgets

Standard plan and above.

Make a budget

1. Go to Accounting › Budgets and click New budget.
2. Give it a name and choose the financial year.

3. Under Start from, choose:

   • Blank to type every amount yourself
   • Last year's actual figures to start from what really happened, with Change by (%) to add or take off a percentage
   • Copy of another budget
4. Fill in the grid: one row for each income and expense account, one column for each month. Click Save budget.

Budget vs Actual

Go to Reports › Budget vs Actual. Each income and expense account shows the budget, the actual figure and the difference. Choose the period: Year to date, Whole year, a quarter or one month.

When spending on an account goes over this month's budget, Admins and Accountants are told in the bell. Choose this under Alerts I get.