How to Create a Budget or Forecast in QuickBooks Desktop

Before you start

• Check your fiscal year. Go to Company > My Company, select the pencil icon, then Report Information. Make sure the first month of your fiscal year is right.
• Review last fiscal year. Go to Reports > Company & Financial and open Profit & Loss Detail or Balance Sheet Detail. Set Dates to Last Fiscal Year and select Refresh.
• We suggest settling account names first. Intuit says renaming an account used in a budget unlinks it, and you'll have to recreate the budget.
• You can set up budgets and forecasts in single-user or multi-user mode, according to Intuit's table of tasks by mode.

To budget by plant, warehouse or product line, we suggest setting up classes first. See how to set up class tracking. If you'll build from last year's actuals, we suggest finishing year-end entries first, as in how to close the books and set a closing date.

Step 1: Create a profit and loss budget

1. 1Go to Company > Planning & Budgeting > Set Up Budgets.
2. 2Select Create New Budget.
3. 3Choose the fiscal year for the budget.
4. 4Select Profit and Loss, then Next.
5. 5Optionally, add criteria such as jobs or classes.
6. 6Choose Create budget from scratch or Create budget from the previous year's actual data.
7. 7Select Finish.

Intuit's Windows article stops at Finish. It doesn't describe the budget window that opens next, so we suggest checking each account row before you rely on it.

Budget by class or by customer:job

Intuit lists Jobs and Class tracking as extra criteria you can add after you choose Profit and Loss. Its article doesn't show the screens that follow. Before you compare a class budget with actuals, we suggest making sure your transactions carry a class.

Step 2: Create a balance sheet budget

1. 1Go to Company > Planning & Budgeting > Set Up Budgets and select Create New Budget.
2. 2Choose the fiscal year.
3. 3Select Balance Sheet, then Next.
4. 4Select Finish.

Intuit's article offers the extra criteria and the previous year's data only for profit and loss budgets.

Step 3: Create a forecast (Premier, Accountant and Enterprise)

1. 1Go to Company > Planning & Budgeting > Set Up Forecast.
2. 2Select Create New Forecast.
3. 3Choose the fiscal year. Optionally, add criteria such as jobs or classes.
4. 4Choose Create forecast from scratch or Create forecast from the previous year's actual data.
5. 5Select Finish.

Intuit describes forecasts as a way to predict future revenue and cash flow. Its article lists them for Premier, Accountant and Enterprise, and doesn't list Pro.

Older versions also had a Cash Flow Projector under Company > Planning & Budgeting, which projected cash six weeks ahead. Intuit says it was discontinued in QuickBooks Desktop 2022.

Step 4: Review budgets and forecasts in reports

1. 1Go to Reports > Budgets and Forecasts.
2. 2Open the budget or forecast report you need.
3. 3To change it, select Customize Report. Intuit says you can customize most reports this way.
4. 4Select Memorize to save your settings for next time.

Intuit's budget article stops at the Budgets and Forecasts menu and doesn't describe each report. For more on saving and scheduling reports, see how to customize, memorize and schedule reports.

Compare years side by side

Intuit's financial reports article shows how to put several years of Profit & Loss side by side. We suggest it as a starting point for next year's targets:

1. 1Go to Reports > Company & Financial > Profit & Loss Standard.
2. 2Select Customize Report.
3. 3On the Display tab, set From and To to the years you want.
4. 4In Display columns by, select Year, then OK.

Change, copy or remove a budget

Intuit's Windows budget article doesn't cover editing or deleting a budget. Here is what its Desktop articles do cover:

• Renamed accounts: renaming an account unlinks it from the budget. Intuit's fix is to recreate the budget with the new account name.
• Copying a budget to another company file: export the budget from the first file as an IIF file, then import it into the second.
• Removing budgets before you import several: open the exported IIF file in Excel. Find the budget start dates in Column P, delete the rows you don't want, save, then import.

Budgets are on Intuit's list of data you can import with IIF files. Sign in as the admin in single-user mode. Intuit's export steps use File > Utilities > Export > Lists to IIF Files. To import, use File > Utilities > Import > Import IIF.

Back up the company file first, because Intuit says IIF imports can't be undone. Intuit also doesn't offer technical support for importing and exporting IIF files.

Common problems

• An account no longer ties to the budget: if it was renamed after you made the budget, the rename unlinked it. Intuit says to recreate the budget with the new name.
• The budget year doesn't line up with your books: we suggest checking the first month of your fiscal year in Report Information. Intuit has you confirm it before any budget.
• No Set Up Forecast option: Intuit lists forecasts for Premier, Accountant and Enterprise only.
• No Cash Flow Projector: Intuit discontinued it in QuickBooks Desktop 2022.
• An imported budget looks wrong: the import can't be undone, but Intuit says you can restore the backup you made before it.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• Someone has to decide the numbers, even when the budget starts from last year's actual data.
• Intuit's article doesn't explain how to adjust amounts in the budget, so checking each row is on you.
• Renaming an account breaks its link to the budget, so account changes need a budget check.
• Comparing actuals with the budget each month means running and reading the reports yourself.
• Intuit's way to copy a budget to another company file uses IIF files, and Intuit doesn't offer technical support for them.