Higher Ed – Expense Budget Request

What is an Expense Request Budget Template? Expense Budget Request templates are considered department input forms and are often used by department heads to enter their suggested funding needs to cover expenses for the upcoming year. Key functionality in this type of input form automatically displays the summary of the salary budget (entered in a separate, detailed employee template) and provides input for all other expenses. The left columns show last year's actual results, as well as, the target change that the budget office is expecting to see. If desired, last year's budget can also be displayed and used as a baseline. Where desired, the department manager enters a percent or amount (or both) to increase or decrease the baseline budget. Explanations are entered in the comment column on the right and can later also be displayed in the final budget review reports. You will find an example of this type of input form below.

Purpose of Expense Request Templates Universities and colleges use Expense Request Templates to give department managers a secure and convenient web form to capture their budget. When used as part of good business practices in a Budgeting and Planning department, a higher education institution can improve its annual budgeting process and speed, as well as, reduce the chances of delayed or inaccurate budgets because users lack good information or the ability to document their requests.

Who Uses This Type of Input Form? The typical users of this type of input form are: Budget Officers and Department Managers. Other Input Forms Often Used in Conjunction with Expense Request Templates Progressive Budgeting and Planning Departments sometimes use several different Expense Request Templates, along with payroll, capital expense and revenue budget templates and other management and control tools.

Where Does the Data for Analysis Originate From? The Actual (historical transactions) data typically comes from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like: Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 500, Sage X3, SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign, Acumatica, Netsuite and others. In analyses where budgets or forecasts are used, the planning data most often originates from in-house Excel spreadsheet models or from professional xFP&A solutions.

Built for higher education finance teams and aligned with Solver's xFP&A platform, this Solver planning template connects directly to your ERP data via the Solver Data Warehouse, enabling near real-time analysis with minimal setup. Designed for QuickStart deployment, it can be activated rapidly so your team can focus on analysis and decisions — not data preparation.

What is the Higher Ed – Expense Budget Request in Solver? The Higher Ed – Expense Budget Request is a pre-built xFP&A planning template in Solver designed for higher education organizations. It delivers key financial and operational metrics in a single, easy-to-use interface — purpose-built for higher education finance workflows.

Who uses this Solver planning template? Cfos, controllers, and higher education finance teams in higher education organizations rely on this Solver planning template to replace manual spreadsheet-based processes with automated, near real-time analysis. It is especially useful during month-end close, budget cycles, and board reporting.

Where does the data come from? Data is sourced automatically from your ERP system through the Solver Data Warehouse, which integrates with platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Acumatica, Sage Intacct, and other leading ERP solutions. Once connected, the template updates in near real-time with no manual data entry required.

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