Many SMB accounting packages allow planning or budgeting at the general ledger account level. However, it’s time-consuming and too detailed to enter a number for each account every month. It gets easier if you can budget at the ‘wages’ level, for example. But then you still have to enter a number 12 times, hopefully with the justification kept in an Excel sheet.
Ideally, you should enter your business model into the budgeting program once, taking into account factors like seasonal influences and the fact that people leave and join during a year. The business model includes a structure in which you plan the number of products sold or hours times a rate. It also includes constant and variable costs. This way, all assumptions are captured in the model, and you can plan ahead.
Smartbooks supports budgeting based on your business model, making it easy to adjust and recalculate an annual plan. You can also compare an alternative scenario alongside the budget and actual figures. This allows you to keep track monthly of how revenue, costs, and cash are developing as planned.