How to export and import your budget file
How to modify the budget file that you have exported
How to attach your budget to a report line
There are two ways to use the budget configuration:
- either directly on the platform, following the "Add new budget" in the left-hand ribbon
- either through imports and exports with Excel
While the first option is very intuitive, it takes time as the budget is done line by line. The second option is more powerful. We detailed below how to use it. To note that Blent is following a replacing method during the import step: it means that elements that are not called (budget lines not imported) are not modified, removed or put at 0, they are just left wit their previous value.
How to export and import your budget file
NB: if you want, you can import only a part on the year, not necessarily the full year. For this, you need to keep the columns A to D unchanged and then the following columns are related only to the months/days you want to import. Be careful, you can only import dates within one specific year, not crossing 2 years (for seasonal activities, you need to perform 2 imports).
How to modify the budget file that you have exported
Here are the guidelines for each column of your budget template:
Column A is for the budget name. If your budgets correspond to accounting codes, it may be useful to link them to the name to facilitate mapping. If you make a change in this column, then the title of the budget line will automatically change in Blent platform.
Column B - do not modify column B!! That's the budget ID which is assigned at the creation of the budget line.
Column C must be filled with either 0 or 1:
0 = If the budget is cumulative (revenue, expected number of attendees, costs, etc.)
1 = If the budget is an average (ADR, RevPAR, Occupancy rate, average ticket).
Column D must be filled with 1 or 0.
0 = If the expected figure is revenue, or a number of services sold, guests or tickets.
1 = If the figure corresponds to an expense or a cost.
This will impact how budgets will appear (green or red) in reports and budgets.
To add new lines, juste fulfill an empty line, following the comments above and leaving the column B empty (the number will be automatically attributed by Blent at the import).
New ! Create a formula budget
You now have the option to create a budget with a formula including other budgets.
Those budgets won't appear in the Excel export.
Mistakes to avoid
- When you want to add a new budget, do not upload the old files! Always, first export the current file, and then enter the changes and/or add new lines into the newly exported file!
- Be careful not to change anything in the downloaded budget file except what you need to modify.
If you do not wish to modify existing budgets, we recommend that you delete the corresponding lines to avoid unintentional modifications (this will not affect the budgets on the lines).
How to display your budget
You want to display your budget in a line or on a dashboard like a classic KPI ?
Use the widget Budget and select one or multiple budgets to display.
You can create a report only to display your budget if you want to.
How to attach your budget to a report line
Now that your budgets are imported, here is how you can attach them to each individual line of the report or a dashboard widget:
For reports:
Attention ! If you are working with a calculation line.
If the lines in the formula already have budgets, do not add a budget on top of that, the budget will automatically calculate itself.
For dashboards: