How do I create a budget by job, and run periodic budget v actual reports?

"I need a micro answer, not a macro one."

If you feel you need One on One support, you need to find someone to work with you directly. This is a text-based forum of Peer users on the internet, not Live Chat with QB support or training.

I pretty much showed Micro-details.

"I enter each new job as a new customer"

You can do that, when the Project or Job is not for an existing customer; is that what you are describing?

"and code each expense and income item by that job code."

One item can be BOTH an expense and an income, and that is what I showed. Then, you are Job Tracking = assigning that where you list it, this Purchase is specifically for that customer name, and as Billable or not.

This is seen in Help, as you see in my new attachment. Open Help and search on Work With Items; search on Job Cost Tracking; search on Billable.

And in the video tutorials that used to be in the program:

Desktop PC program video tutorials

"So I have actual numbers by job, but have no budget numbers."

Again, in QB, you find a Budget tool and an Estimate function. They are Different. Budget is "company financials as fiscal year" and Estimates are "Job project scope" related.

You also see this in the Sample file. From the No Company Open screen, bottom Right, use the big Button for Sample Files and open "product-based" which is Rock Castle Construction to get a file that has real data for your to use, learn from, and even Input and see what happens, as if this is your own Real data file.

"I have a budget, created when I bid the job.  How and where do I enter the budget numbers so I can create a report to compare actual to budget?"

Again, you can use Estimate, which is Item Based. Or, Budget, which is Account based And Limited to each fiscal year, not the lifecycle of a Project.

"How do I get estimate numbers entered per job?"

It is up to you if you want to use some custom Numbering Scheme in QB. Everything is already linked by the Customer:Job unique Name.

Example: I use custom Invoicing sequentially for the year, such as 2017-1, 2017-2, and QB maintains that for me. For Sales Receipts and Estimates, I let QB just number them sequentially. They are Transactions For That project, not Numbered By project, in other words.

In a different job, I did all Manual renumbering and it took hours out of the month. It drove me crazy and I would never use that system again. There already is a Provision for Account Number, for Jobs. You can use that, to Document something you don't need to use for Transaction Numbers.

Think of Invoice, Sales Receipt, Estimate, PO, etc transaction Numbering as similar to your Check Numbering. They are for easy reference. You are using a Relational database, so Names are already part of everything you will do with those transactions.

Hi! Thanks for you explanation.  I was looking for the attachments you mention in your post but couldn't find them.  Could you please point me to where they are located?  Thanks Again! 

Thanks for joining us in this thread, vtkelley.

I'm here to help point you to the Help menu mentioned by one of our best Community backers, qbteachmt.

You can access the Help menu in a few easy steps. To do this, please follow these steps:

1. Open QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).
2. Go to Help beside Window.
3. Choose QuickBooks Desktop Help.
4. Enter a keyword in the Search bar.

I've attached some screenshots below, so you'll know what I'm referring to.

As a reference, I'm linking an article that will provide more information: QBDT keyboard shortcuts.

From there, results are displayed with the closest match.

That should do it. Please let me know if you have further questions. I'll  get them answered for you.

Yes this is true.  However, purchase orders are still committed costs and need to be able to be connected to the estimate so the project costings are current without having to export to excel and then include open purchase orders.

Job estimates plus indirect cost should add up to total budget for the fiscal year based on dates.

Thank you for the information, but where are the attachments?

Welcome to the Community, JRH2.

I want to make sure we're on the same page so I can properly address your concern. Are you referring to the attachments that have been added to the transactions in QuickBooks Desktop? If so, they are always added into the same folder as the Company file. 

You can read through this article that answers frequently asked questions as well as suggested troubleshooting steps for issues related to your documented accounts: QuickBooks Document Center: FAQs and common issues

If you're referring to something else, please add a comment below. I'll be right here to assist you further.

Hi there @GlinetteC,

i was referring to the attachments that @qbteachmt mentioned in their first comment replying to the original post.

sorry, still figuring out the webpage. Thank you for the response!

I have entered a budget for a specific customer:job. When I run the budget:actual report and filter by that job, there is NOTHING in the budget column although the actual costs are displayed in the actual column for that job.

How do I get the budget for the customer:job pulled into the report?

Didn't see the attachments, but if you mean the screen shots, they don't answer my question.

thanks

Hilary

Hey there, @hilarycrosbycpa.

Thanks for following the thread. I'm happy to lend a helping hand with getting the data to show under the budget column. 

I recommend checking your company file for data integrity issues. You can correct most errors and bugs, such as the one with your report not showing data under the budget column, by running a Rebuild and Verify. These tools will scan and correct any data integrity within the file and then show you a report of the bugs and errors they have resolved. I've included the steps to run the tools below. 

To rebuild:

1. From the QuickBooks Utilities menu, choose Rebuild Data.
2. Select OK if you receive a prompt to back up your company file.
3. Tap OK when you get the message Rebuild has completed.

To verify:

1. Under the File menu, click Utilities, then choose Verify Data.
2. Hit OK when you see the message QuickBooks detected no problem with your data. Then, you can recheck your report to see if the data is under the budget column. 

For further details about rebuilds and verify's, check out Resolving Potential Data Issues.

Additionally, you can also check out Understand reports to learn more about everything you can do with QuickBooks Desktop reports. This way, you'll be a pro before you know it when it comes to building a report. 

Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns about this process. You can reach out to the Community at any time. Take care and have a fantastic day ahead! 

Hello, I was wondering if you ever got a straight answer for this question? I am looking to do the same but cannot find any information anywhere. Thanks!

Hello, PabloTrullen. 

Thank you for joining the thread. Have you tried the solutions above provided by my colleague? If so, I recommend you get in touch with our Customer Support Team. This way, a representative can review your account information in a secure space and extra tools to help you further with this.  

Here's how:   

1. Open QuickBooks.
2. Go to Help, then select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Select Contact Us.
4. Give a brief description of your issue, then select Let's talk, and then choose a way to connect. 

To ensure we address your concern, our representatives are available from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM on weekdays and 6:00 AM - 3:00 PM on Saturdays, PST. For more information, check out our support hours and types.    

Feel free to let me know if you have further questions or concerns. You can always reach out to the Community or me anytime you need a helping hand. Take care! 

How do we adjust across rows on QBO?

Thanks for joining us here, @buckvantrease.

I have some information about adjusting across rows when creating a budget. Currently, the option to adjust rows is unavailable. You can only adjust the column. Just point your cursor in between the columns to see it.

Meanwhile, here's an article to guide you along when creating a budget: Create and import budgets into QuickBooks Online.

When you want to do a quick view of your budget, just pull up the Budget Overview report. This report summarizes budgets by account. You can also use the Budgets vs. Actuals report to compare it with your actual account totals. It also shows how much you're under or over budget.

Here's how to get there:

1. Go to Reports.
2. Enter Budget Overview (or Budgets vs. Actuals) in the field.
3. Change the Report period.
4. Click Run report.

Please let me know if you're referring to something else or if you have follow-up questions. I'm always here to help. Take care and stay safe.