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What is the 'Link to Budget' onboarding option?

If you would like to build your forecast from a budget or an existing forecast, then you can use the 'Link to Budget' option when setting up your Fathom forecast.

💡Pro Tip: When you first enter Fathom forecasting, there are three onboarding options (Custom Forecast, Quick Start, and Link to Budget). Learn more in the 'Creating a Forecast in Fathom' article.

The 'Link to Budget' forecast will bring data into your forecast from the budget you have imported into Fathom. If you have an existing forecast you want to use, then you can load that forecast into Fathom as your company budget from your source accounting system or Excel.

❗Notice: The 'Link to Budget' onboarding specifically links your imported P&L budget to your forecast. Your forecast Balance Sheet and any Balance Sheet derived P&L accounts (e.g. interest, depreciation, amortisation) will not be linked to your imported budget. Instead, those values will be determined by the timing profiles, journals, and schedules you set up in the entity's forecast.

Onboarding process

To set up a 'Link to Budget' forecast,

Select the Forecasting option for the company on the 'My Companies' page. If a forecast has yet to be created for the company, you'll be taken to a short overview video.
Select Let's get started
Choose the Link to Budget option

📝Note: If you have imported divisional budgets for a Xero or QuickBooks Online company, only the company total for the budget will be brought into the forecast with the Link to Budget value rule.
Set the default value rules for your Revenue, Expense, and Cost of Sales accounts. They will all start with the 'Link to Budget' option selected. You can also set up default timing profiles for these account classifications. Once the forecast is generated, you can edit these value rules and timing profiles at the individual account, heading, or classification level.
Select Next in the lower right corner
Choose the main accounts for your Balance Sheet classifications (e.g. choose a 'Cash & Equivalents' account as your main or default cash account).
Select Next in the lower right corner
Review and set up taxes. Select Next in the lower right corner once done.
Review and set up loans and depreciation accounts in your forecast (linking the correct asset account to the P&L loan account and choosing the depreciation method).

❗Notice: If you have loan or depreciation accounts in your chart of accounts that are not showing up during that onboarding step, then those accounts are likely not classified as such in 'Step 3 - Chart of Accounts' in Fathom.
Select Create Forecast in the lower right corner

Once you've selected 'Create Forecast', you'll be taken to the forecasting main grid.

💡Pro Tip: Any decisions you make during onboarding can be changed once you are in your forecast.

Next steps

Congratulations on completing the 'Link to Budget' onboarding! You should now be in the main grid of your forecast. Continue the 'Forecast Creation & Setup Workflow' by choosing from one of the following steps below:

What you want to do:	Where to go next:
Navigate the main forecasting grid	Forecasting Main Grid
Tailor and customise your forecast with value rules	Setting up Value Rules

Additional knowledge & common questions