Budget Management

Overview

TimelyChurch's budgeting feature lets you create financial budgets, set planned amounts for each income and expense category, and track actual performance against your plan throughout the year. The system calculates variances in real time so you can see at a glance whether you are on track.

Plan & mode requirements: Budgets is a Pro feature ($129/mo founding while the first 25 founding slots last, then $149/mo list price). It is also an Advanced-mode accounting feature: it appears in the Setup ▾ menu only when your accounting module is set to Advanced mode. In Simple mode the Budgets item is hidden (Simple mode shows a More ▾ menu with a reduced item set). To use Budgets, switch your accounting module to Advanced mode in Accounting settings.

Budget Types

You can create three types of budgets:

• Annual -- Covers a full fiscal year (the most common choice for churches).
• Quarterly -- Covers a three-month period.
• Monthly -- Covers a single month.

Budget Lifecycle

Every budget goes through three stages:

Creating a New Budget

The Create Budget page offers three quick-start methods at the top, plus a manual form below them. Pick whichever method best fits the budget you are building.

Method 1: From Template

In the Quick Start: Create from Template card, pick a pre-built template (sized for your church) and click it. TimelyChurch creates a draft budget with the template's standard income and expense line items already filled in. Best for first-time budgets when you do not have prior-year data to draw on.

Method 2: From Actuals (Pre-fill from Last Year)

In the Pre-fill from Last Year's Actuals card, choose the budget year and click Pre-fill from Actuals. TimelyChurch reads your prior-year income and expense transactions, totals them by category, and creates a draft budget where each line item's planned amount equals what you actually spent or earned in that category last year. Adjust from there. Best for churches that have at least one full year of accounting history.

Method 3: Copy From Previous Budget

In the manual form, the Copy from Previous Budget dropdown lets you carry forward every line item (with the same planned amounts) from a prior budget. Best when last year's budget is a good starting point and you only want to tweak a few figures.

Manual Creation

If you prefer to start from scratch:

1. Open the Accounting module, then click Setup ▾ in the accounting tab bar and choose Budgets. (Setup ▾ appears in Advanced mode; in Simple mode the menu is labeled More ▾ and does not list Budgets.)
2. Click Create Budget.
3. Fill in the manual form (below the quick-start cards):
   • Name -- A descriptive name (e.g., "2026 Annual Budget" or "Q1 2026 Operating Budget").
   • Budget Type -- Annual, Quarterly, or Monthly.
   • Fiscal Year -- The year this budget applies to.
   • Start Date -- When the budget period begins.
   • End Date -- When the budget period ends.
   • Copy from Previous Budget -- Optional dropdown to copy line items from an existing budget.
   • Notes -- Optional notes about the budget (assumptions, board approval date, etc.).
4. Click Create Budget.

You will be redirected to the budget detail page where you can add line items.

Adding Budget Items (Line Items)

Each budget item links a category to a planned dollar amount for the budget period.

1. On the budget detail page, click Add Item.
2. Select a Category (income or expense).
3. Optionally select a Fund to track the budget at the fund level.
4. Enter the Planned Amount for the full budget period.
5. Add optional Notes explaining the figure.
6. Click Add Item.

Repeat for each income and expense line you want to track.

Tip: The system prevents duplicate entries. You cannot add two budget items for the same category and fund combination within the same budget.

Understanding Variance

Variance is the difference between what you planned (budgeted) and what actually happened (actual transactions). TimelyChurch calculates variance automatically by comparing your budget amounts to real transaction data.

Income Variance

For income categories, the system compares planned income to actual income received during the budget period.

• Over target (positive variance) -- You received more income than budgeted. This is generally favorable.
• Under target (negative variance) -- You received less income than budgeted. This may need attention.

Expense Variance

For expense categories, the system compares planned spending to actual spending.

• Under budget (positive variance) -- You spent less than budgeted. This is generally favorable.
• Over budget (negative variance) -- You spent more than budgeted. This needs attention.

Overall Variance

The overall variance looks at the net result: net actual (income minus expenses) compared to net planned (planned income minus planned expenses).

• Favorable -- The church's net financial position is better than planned.
• Unfavorable -- The church's net financial position is worse than planned.

Reading the Variance Indicators

On the budget detail page, each line item shows:

• Planned -- The budgeted amount.
• Actual -- The sum of matching transactions within the budget period (matched by category and optionally by fund).
• Variance -- The dollar difference, with a percentage.
• Progress -- A percentage showing how much of the planned amount has been realized.
• Status -- A color-coded indicator:
  • Green for favorable variance (income above target, expenses below budget).
  • Red for unfavorable variance (income below target, expenses over budget).

Activating a Budget

When your budget is ready:

1. Open Setup ▾ > Budgets in the accounting tab bar.
2. Find the draft budget in the list and open the actions menu (the three-dot icon at the right of the row).
3. Click Activate.
4. The status changes from Draft to Active.

Note: A budget must have at least one line item before it can be activated. The Activate, Close Budget, Copy to Next Year, and Delete actions all live in the row actions menu on the Budgets list -- not on the budget detail page itself.

Once active, the budget's variance calculations begin comparing planned amounts to actual transactions in real time.

Closing a Budget

At the end of a budget period:

1. Open Setup ▾ > Budgets in the accounting tab bar.
2. Open the actions menu (three-dot icon) for the active budget.
3. Click Close Budget.
4. The status changes to Closed.

Closed budgets cannot be modified but remain available for historical review and reporting.

Copying a Budget to the Next Year

To save time when creating a new annual budget:

1. Open Setup ▾ > Budgets in the accounting tab bar.
2. Open the actions menu (three-dot icon) for the budget you want to roll forward and click Copy to Next Year.
3. A new draft budget is created with:
   • The fiscal year incremented by one.
   • The start and end dates moved forward by one year.
   • All line items copied with the same planned amounts.
4. You are taken to the new budget's detail page. Review it, adjust amounts as needed, and activate it (from the Budgets list) when ready.

Deleting a Budget

Only draft budgets can be deleted. Active and closed budgets are preserved for accountability and historical records.

1. Open Setup ▾ > Budgets in the accounting tab bar.
2. Open the actions menu (three-dot icon) for the draft budget and click Delete.
3. Confirm the deletion.

90% Spending Alert

To help you catch overspending before it becomes a problem, TimelyChurch scans a budget's expense line items each time you open its detail page. Any expense line where actual spending has reached 90% or more of the planned amount triggers a yellow Spending Alert banner at the top of the budget detail page, listing the affected categories. This is purely a notification -- nothing is locked or blocked -- but it gives the treasurer a chance to flag the issue before the line goes over budget.

Budget Reports

The budget detail page has three reporting actions in addition to the on-page variance summary:

Variance Report

Click Variance Report for a full breakdown of every budget line item with its planned amount, actual amount, variance, variance percentage, and status. Items are grouped by type (income and expense) with subtotals for each group.

Monthly Breakdown

Click Monthly Breakdown to see actual spending and income for every category across each month of the budget period. This is the report to use when you want to spot seasonal patterns (e.g., "we always overspend on utilities in July") or when reporting partway through the budget year.

Board Report PDF

Click Download Board Report (PDF) to generate a print-ready PDF specifically designed for board meetings. It summarizes overall budget performance, highlights variances, and is formatted for distribution to non-accountants. This is separate from the variance report -- the variance report is the working detail document; the board report is the polished summary.

Tip: Share the variance report with your finance committee, and bring the Board Report PDF to the board meeting itself. The real-time data means you always have an up-to-date picture of financial performance without waiting for someone to prepare a report manually.