budgets

Hi there, HollyJoy.

Thank you for visiting again the QuickBooks Community. I'll be sharing details on how setting budget targets for each class works in QuickBooks Online. Then, to ensure you'll be able to achieve your goal.

Classes in QuickBooks Online represent meaningful segments in your company, like store departments or product lines. Once you track transactions by class, it’s easy to plan ahead for each segment. That said, yes, the divided ministries will use in setting up each ministry as a class. 

You can create a budget by class based on profit and loss from the last fiscal year. This helps you set more manageable budget targets for each part of your business. Then, you can run reports to see your progress towards your goal, so you can stay on track. to start with, review your profit and loss by class.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Reports menu at the left panel.
2. Choose the Standard tab.
3. Search for and run the report Profit and Loss by Class.
4. Go to the top of your report.
5. Click the Report period ▼ drop-down. Then, select Last year if your fiscal year starts in January. If not, select the Last fiscal year.
6. Choose Run report.

Once done, add a budget goal for each class. You can create a monthly, quarterly, or yearly budget. You may also select to pre-fill the fields with actual data from the last fiscal year. This is handy if you want to base your budget on each segment’s past financial performance. To view additional details, you can open this article: Set budget targets for each class. This also provides information on how to compare your actual income and expenses to your budgeted amounts.

Lastly, you may refer to this article to see details on how to filter a balance sheet to view the report by class or location that will help you determine the accuracy of your data: Run a balance sheet by class or location.

Don’t hesitate to post a comment if you need further help about managing the budget with class in QuickBooks. I’ll be more than happy to lend a helping hand. Enjoy the rest of the day.

I've upgraded to QuickBooks Plus and now see the budget link under setting, but I don't see the report "Profit and Loss by Class" under standard reports - I see a ton of other P&L reports, however. Do I need to set up budget accounts as classes before that P&L report can be created?

Let's make sure you'll be able to see the Profit and Loss by Class report in QuickBooks Online, HollyJoy.

Classes consist of a freeform list you can use to tag your transactions. You'll have to turn on class tracking so you'll be able to view the report. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. Click the Gear ⚙ icon and select Account and Settings.
2. Select Advanced, then select the Categories section to edit.
3. Check Track classes.
4. Check Warn me when a transaction isn't assigned a class. This is optional, but it's good to turn on, so when you look at reports, you know everything got classified.
5. Under Assign classes, select One to entire transaction or One to each row in transaction.*
6. Click Save, then Done.

Then, you can set up your class list. Once done, you can now run the Profit and Loss by Class report. 

Additionally, to make sure that you'll get the information you need, I've added this article for your guide: Customize Reports In QuickBooks Online.

Please reach out to us if you have any concerns about classes. We're here to help you.

Maybe I'm not using the right tool or expecting it to do something it can't, so bear with me. Also, I'm an administrator, not an accountant.

I want to run a report "Budget to Actual Comparison by Ministry" that is divided by ministries (class). I have added our 2020 budget. I have created the 5 classes - one for each area of ministry. How do I connect classes to each account in the chart of accounts? I want to be able to run a report for "Class 1 - Worship" that has 12 expense accounts that apply only to that class. If connecting an expense with a class can only be done when entering a new bill, is there a way to go through the year-to-date and add class IDs to past bills?

Thanks.