Understand the outcome
Each GL code is one line of the budget sheet.
Budget is your department budget as an editable sheet, not an accounting package. Set the fiscal year your municipality uses, build your own GL codes, and type figures into the sheet. It shows what you budgeted, what you have spent, what is left, how far through the year you are, and which lines are spending ahead of the calendar. Spending is a number your team enters; Budget does not track receipts or transactions.
This guide focuses specifically on “Set up the fiscal year and GL codes.” Complete it from an account with the appropriate Budget access, verify it from the affected member or operational view, and preserve existing records rather than repurposing historical configuration.
Before you begin
Make the decision before changing the screen. Record the current configuration when the department already uses this feature, and use a test record or test account when the change can affect active members.
- Know your fiscal-year start date.
- Get your municipality’s GL code list.
Do not work around it from another member’s account. Confirm that Budget is enabled, its dependencies are active, and your role grants the exact management action required for this task.
Where to work and what access you need
Start from the portal destination named in the procedure. Administrators normally need permission to view Budget plus the specific create, edit, manage, approve, report, or all-record action used by the task. Visibility alone does not grant management access.
- Budget sheet
/modules/budget - GL Codes
/modules/budget/gl-codes - Analytics
/modules/budget/analytics - Reports
/modules/budget/reports - Settings
/modules/budget/settings
Required foundation
- Core must be enabled and correctly configured before this workflow can operate reliably.
If your department uses custom roles, test the procedure with that role—not only with a full administrator account. This confirms the people responsible for daily operations can complete the workflow without receiving unrelated access.
Complete the task
- Step 1Set the fiscal year
Enter the start date and label in Budget settings.
- Step 2Create GL codes
Add each code.
- Step 3Enter amounts
Type proposed and approved amounts in the sheet.
- Step 4Advance the year
Move from draft to proposed to approved.
- Step 5Update spending
Enter spent amounts on a regular schedule.
- Step 6Close and roll forward
Close the year to lock it, then start the next year by copying codes and seeding amounts.
Operational safeguards
Apply these module-level controls while completing the procedure. They prevent a technically saved configuration from becoming an operational or access problem later.
- Control point
Confirm the fiscal-year start date before entering figures. - Control point
Agree on GL code names with your municipality. - Control point
Decide who may edit spent amounts and how often they are updated. - Control point
Close the year only when the numbers are final. - Control point
Retire codes instead of deleting them. - Control point
Export a PDF for board meetings.
Verify the result
Do not consider the setup complete merely because the save action succeeded. Confirm the behavior from the user-facing or operational view, then retain evidence of the test when department policy requires it.
- Totals add up.
- Pace labels appear.
- The closed year is locked.
If any verification fails, return to the source configuration and correct it there. Do not edit a report or downstream record to conceal an incorrect setup.
Troubleshooting
Can’t delete a code
Codes in use are retired instead.
Pace looks wrong
Check the fiscal-year start date.
Need to edit a closed year
Closed years are locked.
Connected modules and downstream effects
This workflow is primarily contained within its module. Verify its member-facing result and reporting output before department-wide rollout.
Continue in Budget
Return to the Budget module guide for connected workflows, dependencies, portal destinations, and additional procedures.