Ministry Budgets

The Ministry Budgets feature helps your church create, track, and manage budgets for individual ministries and the church as a whole.

Accessing Ministry Budgets

Navigate to Stewardship > Ministry Budgets in the sidebar.

Budget List

View all budgets with:

• Budget Name (e.g., "Youth Ministry 2026", "General Operations Q1")

• Fiscal Year -- Which fiscal period the budget covers

• Total Budget -- The total allocated amount

• Spent -- Amount spent so far

• Remaining -- Budget remaining

• Status (Draft, Active, Closed)

Creating a Budget

1. Click Create Budget or New Budget.

2. Fill in the budget details:

   • Budget Name -- A descriptive name

   • Fiscal Year -- Select the fiscal period

   • Ministry/Department -- Which ministry this budget is for (optional)

   • Description -- Budget purpose and notes

3. Add Budget Line Items:

   • Category -- Select a budget category

   • Description -- What this line item covers

   • Planned Amount -- The budgeted amount

   • Repeat for each line item

4. Click Save.

Managing Budgets

Viewing Budget Details

Click on a budget to see:

• Budget Summary -- Total planned vs. actual spending

• Line Items -- Each budget category with planned, actual, and variance amounts

• Progress -- Visual indicators showing how much of each line has been spent

• Transactions -- Actual transactions charged against this budget

Budget vs. Actual

For each line item, the system tracks:

Column	Description
Planned	The budgeted amount
Actual	Actual spending to date
Variance	Difference (positive = under budget, negative = over budget)
% Used	Percentage of budget consumed

Editing a Budget

1. Open the budget.

2. Click Edit.

3. Modify line items, amounts, or other details.

4. Click Save.

Budget Monitoring

Keep track of your budget health:

• Under Budget -- Spending is below the planned amount (green)

• On Track -- Spending is close to plan (yellow)

• Over Budget -- Spending exceeds the planned amount (red)

Best Practices

• Create budgets before the fiscal year starts -- Plan ahead for better financial management

• Break budgets into meaningful categories -- Use budget categories that match your ministry's spending patterns

• Review monthly -- Compare actual vs. planned spending each month

• Adjust as needed -- Budgets can be revised if circumstances change (with appropriate approval)

• Link to funds -- Associate budgets with ministry funds for comprehensive fund tracking