Budget Manager

Set spending targets for your accounts, compare budgeted amounts against actual activity, and get clear variance indicators so you always know where your money is going.

Creating a Budget

Budgets in Kantivo are built around your chart of accounts. You set a target amount for each account you want to track, and Kantivo compares those targets against your actual transactions.

1. Navigate to Accountant Tools → Budget Manager from the sidebar
2. Click Create Budget
3. Enter a Budget Name (e.g., "2026 Operating Budget" or "Q1 Marketing")
4. Select the Fiscal Year the budget applies to
5. Choose a Period Type (see below)
6. Click Create

After creating the budget, you will be taken to the budget detail view where you add individual account lines and amounts.

Setting Period Type

The period type determines how your budget is broken down over time:

Choose the period type when creating the budget. Once set, the period type cannot be changed -- you would need to create a new budget if you want a different breakdown.

Entering Budget Amounts

After creating the budget, add budget lines for the accounts you want to track:

1. Click Add Budget Line
2. Select an Account from the dropdown (any account in your chart of accounts)
3. Enter the budgeted amount for each period:
   • Annual: Enter one total amount
   • Quarterly: Enter amounts for Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4
   • Monthly: Enter amounts for each of the 12 months
4. Repeat for each account you want to include in the budget

You do not need to budget every account. Only add the accounts that are important for your financial planning and monitoring.

Saving Budget Lines

Budget lines are saved individually as you add them. Each line stores:

• The account being budgeted
• The budgeted amount for each period
• The account type (used to determine variance direction)

You can save partially complete budgets and come back to add more lines later. There is no need to finish the entire budget in one session.

Viewing the Variance Report

The variance report is the heart of the Budget Manager. It compares your budgeted amounts against actual transactions to show where you stand.

1. Open a budget from the Budget Manager list
2. Click View Variance Report (or it may display automatically)
3. The report shows a table with the following columns:
   • Account: The account name
   • Budget: The amount you planned to spend or earn
   • Actual: The real amount from your transactions
   • Variance: The difference between budget and actual (dollar amount)
   • Variance %: The variance as a percentage of the budget
   • Status: A color-coded indicator (see below)

The variance report pulls actual figures directly from your posted transactions, so it is always up to date.

Understanding Variance Status

Each budget line shows a color-coded status indicator to help you quickly identify areas that need attention:

The status thresholds are calculated automatically based on the percentage of budget consumed relative to how far you are through the budget period.

Editing & Deleting Budgets

Editing a Budget

You can modify a budget at any time:

• Edit budget name: Open the budget and click the name to edit it
• Change amounts: Click on any budget line amount to update it
• Add lines: Click Add Budget Line to include additional accounts
• Remove lines: Click the delete icon next to any budget line to remove it

Changes take effect immediately. The variance report updates to reflect your new budget amounts as soon as you save.

Deleting a Budget

To permanently remove a budget:

1. Open the budget from the Budget Manager list
2. Click Delete Budget
3. Confirm the deletion

Deleting a budget removes all of its budget lines and variance data. Your actual transaction data is not affected -- only the budget targets are removed.