Academies Finance
STARACADEMY– User guide
Section 6 - Budget Transactions/Profiling
Budgeting Overview
The budget can be created in one of two ways:
- By exporting a budget that has already been created within the Budget Planner Software (Star Budget Planner only)from Budget Planner to Star
- By Creating a Budget within Star.
Budget Planner Software
If the Academy is using the Budget Planner software then it will have created an original budget which once finalised will be exported to Star (see Exporting Budgets into Star from the Budget Planner Softwarebelow).
During the academic year following the creation of this original budget the Academy will have the opportunity to create three subsequent revisions (one per term) in their Budget Planner software and these too will be exported to Star.
Each revision of the budget that is exported to Star will overwrite the previous version of the budget.
Breakdown of Budgets
The Budget Planner software allows the setting of a budget down to Nominal Code level only. In order to facilitate a moredetailed creation of a budget a user can create duplicate NominalCodes and differentiate them from the original Nominal Codeusing a “Notes” facility to effectively allow the breakdown of a budget below Nominal Code level.
These breakdowns can be viewed within the Budget Planner software and printed out for future reference.
However, when the budget is exported to Star any Nominal Codes that have been duplicated in this manner will have their individual budget totals summarised back to Nominal Code level and the duplicated Nominal Codes and their “Notes” will not be exported to Star.
As will be seen in the following paragraphs there is a facility within Star that allows the creation of Departmental Budgets and although the breakdowns referred to previously are not copied across the figures used to create those breakdowns can now be set up using this Star facility.
Budget Revisions
Normally the three Budget Planner revisions created and exported during the year should remove the need to amend budgets within Star but there may be occasions when it is necessary to make an amendment within Star before the next revision from the Budget Planner is exported to Star.
The same facility used within Star to create a budget from new (see Creating a Budget in Star below) can be used to amend and revise existing budgets, irrespective of how they were created originally.
Please Note: If the Star amendment facility is used any of the Nominal Code budgets that have been amended within Star will be overwritten should a subsequent “revision” be exported from Budget Planner to Star.
Exporting Budgets into Star from the Budget Planner Software
The Budget Planner software includes a procedure for exporting the current budget plan directly into StarAcademy. This is only possible if both Star
Accounts and the Budget Planner are located on networked computers / drives (i.e. both can be opened on the same computer). Instructions for the export of the Budget directly into Star can be found in the Budget Planner User Guide.
Creating a Budget within Star
The following paragraphs illustrate the facilities that are available in Star to either create new budgets or amend existing ones.
From the Main Menu select the ‘Transactions’ tab and click ‘Budget’.
MainAcademyBudget
All budgets are set at the Nominal Codelevel within each ARcategory of the AR(Accounting Report). You can enter budgets for more than one Nominal Codewithin the ARCategory.
Example: Creating an initial budgetentry of £500 for Staff Medicals (EX1902).
Accounting Period–Enter a date that coincides with the Accounting Period you want the Budget change to apply from – see Section 8 for more detail of how Accounting Periods are used within Academy Star (please note that if the date is in the Future Year and you are not in month 12 your entry will be posted in the Current Period (after a warning message has been displayed)).
Having entered the budget required in the Enter Budget Revision field the After field will be updated to show the result of changing the total annual budget (once you tab away from the Enter Budget Revision field).
To save this initial Budget Revisionclick eithertheUpdate budgetbutton or Exit key.
To exit without saving the Budget Revisionclick Exit Don’t Save.
Please Note:Income budgets must be entered as a negative amount.
Departmental Budgets
Star also allows the creation of Departmental Budgets that can be reported on without reference to the main AR budgets held at Nominal Code level.
If you wish to enter Departmental Budgetsplease follow the instructions as above, however, instead of selecting a Nominal Codeyou only need to select a Departmentfrom the drop down list (see Section 3 for instructions on creating Departments).
The budget entered will then form part of the Departmental BCR which does not affect the main AcademyAR.
Please Note: Any transactions recorded in Star have to be allocated to a specific Nominal Code and in that way the overall recording of expenditure and income can be mapped accurately against the Budget Figures created for
those Nominal Codes. Whilst it is mandatory to record a transaction against a specific Nominal Code it is only optional to include a Departmental Code for a financial transaction. It is therefore essential that where Departmental Budgets have been created the user should ensure that any income or expenditure transaction related to this budget has the relevant Department Code allocated in addition to the Nominal Code when it is recorded. If it is not so recorded the summarised Departmental Code Budget reports will not show an up to date and accurate position and if relied upon in isolation could lead to potential overspends on the Nominal Code Budget.
Enter Budget Revisions
To enter Budget Revisionsfollow the instructions as above (ensuring that you enter ameaningful description - e.g. ‘Revision 1’). The amount to be entered as the Budget Revisionis the difference between the initial budget and the revised amount.
For example,NominalEX1101had an initial total annualbudget of £500,000which needs to be revised to£508,000 (i.e. the budget has increased by £8000).
Accounting Period – Enter a date that coincides with the Accounting Period you want the Budget change to apply from(please note that if the date is in
the Future Year and you are not in month 12 your entry will be posted in the Current Period (after a warning message has been displayed)).
The Before figure will show the total annualbudget that existed previously, irrespective of whether it was imported from the Budget Planner software or created directly from within Star.
Please Note: Any Beforefigures (whether original or revised) will be overwritten should a subsequent Budget Revision be imported from the Budget Planner Software.HoweverDepartmental Budgets will NOT be overwrittenby revisions imported from the Budget Planner Software, these will need to be revised separately as required.
Budget History
Click Budget History to see details of all revisions made to the budget.
This report provides details of all budget entries/amendments made during the yearselected and lists Departmental revisions first followed by Nominal Code revisions (in ascending Departmental and Nominal Code order respectively).
Budget Profiling
It is not recommendedthat Academies use this facility unless the effect it has on the budget is fully understood. It is currently unavailable. Please contact the Academy Support Team if you wish to use this option using the e-mail address:
Section 6 – Budget Transactions
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