Budget Set up

Welcome to the Community space, @kristinm1.

Yes, you're right. The budget you create will not save you if there are blank spaces in it. That's why zero keeps coming back so you can save the budget and we can't fix it as it works as designed.

However, you can export the report to Excel and remove the zero's from there. Let me show you how:

1. In QuickBooks, go to the Reports menu.
2. Select Budgets and Forecasts.
3. Find and open any report.
4. Select the Excel on the toolbar.
5. You can also select Print or Email to save the report as a PDF.
6. To create a new Excel workbook, select Create New Worksheet. If you want to update an existing workbook with the data in the open report, select Update Existing Worksheet. Select Browse and then find the workbook on your computer. Keep in mind, this overwrites the existing workbook.
7. If you want to format the data a specific way, select Advanced. 
8. When you’re ready to export, select OK. To open the report in Excel, you can also select Export.

I'm adding these articles that will guide you in creating a budget and forecast in QuickBooks: 

• Create a budget or forecast in QuickBooks Desktop
• Budgeting vs. Forecasting: What’s the Difference?

Additionally, I'm adding these articles that will help you manage your reports in QuickBooks: 

• Understand reports
• Customize customer, job, and sales reports in QuickBooks Desktop
• Reports and accounting

Should you have questions or concerns I can help with, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'll be around for you. Take good care!

This reply does not make sense to me. We have many blank lines on our budget when it is set up (not zero) and those do not show in the reports. Has something changed? I have attached a screen shot.

If all income and expense numbers show up when you set up your budget and they all end up with zeros in them, that would make a mess of reports. There must be a way to have certain lines (ones that you aren't using for the current year) not show up in your reports without exporting to excel. I know how to do that, but that just isn't workable.

Can I start over with a new budget and make sure to only enter number in the lines I want to use?

Thanks for getting back to this thread and adding a screenshot, @kristinm1.

Once you create a budget in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) and enter your data, the system will automatically add the zero amounts to the empty lines to calculate its annual total. 

This is the reason why these numbers keep on returning in your budget report. However, if you don't add any details to the budget accounts, QuickBooks won't auto-fill any zeros on each line. 

Therefore, what you're suggesting is the right action to resolve this issue. Simply recreate a new budget and make sure to only enter numbers in the lines you want to use in budgeting. 

Here's how:

1. Go to the Company menu and hover over Planning & Budgeting. 
2. Select Set Up Budgets and click Create New Budget.
3. Set the fiscal year for the budget, then choose either Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet. Then, click Next and Finish.
4. Add the amounts in the accounts and select OK to close the Budget window.

For more details, check out the article on how to use your data to create budgets and forecasts.

Don't hesitate to tag my name in the comment section below if you have other concerns or questions about creating a budget. I'm always ready to help. Have a good one.