Project Budget
What is a Project Budgeting Template? Project Budgeting input templates are considered detailed planning tools for project-based businesses and are used by project managers and budgeting executives to plan estimated revenues, expenses and profitability per project. Some key functionality in this type of budget form allows the user to enter any number of projects, associate them with a Project Type, and capture key metrics like hours, rates and start/end dates. Based on the Project Types, revenues and expenses are automatically associated with the applicable GL account number for the corporate budget. The model spreads the budgeted amounts across the active project months. The total revenues and expenses are compared to actual data from the prior year with a displayed variance. You will find an example of this type of budget form below.
Purpose of Project Budgets Companies and organizations use Project Budgets to analyze profitability and other financial metrics for their projects. When used as part of good business practices in a Project Management Office and Budgeting Department, a company can improve its resource planning and profit margins as well as reduce the risk of capacity problems.
Who Uses This Type of Budget Form? The typical users of this type of budget form are: Project Managers and Planning Executives. Other Budget Forms Often Used in Conjunction with Project Budgets Progressive Project Management Office and Budgeting Departments sometimes use several different Project Budgets, along with payroll, capital expense and profit & loss budget forms, project reports, project dashboards, 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, 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.
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 Project Budget in Solver? The Project Budget is a pre-built xFP&A planning template in Solver that allows finance and business teams to submit planning data directly in Solver, with automatic roll-up to consolidated budget and forecast models.
Who uses this Solver planning template? This template is primarily used by CFOs, FP&A managers, and budget owners who need a structured, controlled way to collect and submit planning data in Solver. Department managers and budget owners use it to submit their numbers directly, eliminating manual spreadsheet consolidation.
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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