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FAQ: Can I save my forecast as a budget?

Use your forecast or scenarios to build your budget

Updated over 2 months ago

This feature is included with Fathom Pro - the plan with access to all of Fathom's features. Companies on Portfolio can be upgraded to Fathom Pro at any time.

Yes, you can

Yes, the main forecast or a scenario can be saved as an individual company's full budget or as part of a company's budget. There are two ways to save your forecast as the company budget in Fathom.

  1. From within forecasting

  2. From within 'Update Data' in the company's Settings

Why can't I save the forecast as the budget?

You cannot save a consolidated group's forecast as the group's budget. The budget for the consolidated group will always roll up from the underlying entities in the group.

If you have imported divisional budgets for a QuickBooks Online or Xero company, then it is not possible to save the forecast as the budget for the company. You must remove the divisional budget data before being able to save the forecast as the budget.

If you have imported budgets for multiple financial years for a QuickBooks Online company, it is also not possible to save the forecast as the budget. You must remove budget data so that you only have one financial year imported before you can save the forecast as the budget.

Saving from the forecasting grid

From within forecasting, you can:

  1. Go to the main forecast grid
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  2. Click on the bolded Forecast rolling from date in the upper right corner of the header
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  3. Select 'Save forecast as budget'
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  4. A menu will pop up where you can save the main forecast or a scenario forecast as the budget.
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    💡 Smart Tip: If you've imported an existing budget from your source accounting system or Excel, you can replace only part of your existing budget with your forecast.

📝 Note: The 'Replacement Options' in the screenshot above will only appear if you have imported an existing budget from your source accounting system or Excel. They will not appear if there is no existing imported budget or the budget is already sourced from the forecast.

Save from the company's Settings

You can also save your forecast as your budget from within 'Update Data' in your company's Settings. To do this:

  1. Go to the 'Budgets' section in 'Step 1 - Update Data'
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  2. Select 'Add to budget from forecast'
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  3. Choose to save the main forecast or a scenario forecast as the budget. You can also choose to replace the existing budget entirely or partially.

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