1.2.5 Worked example: how one setting changes the budget

⚠️ Illustrative example. The association and figures below are made up and simplified to show how a setting changes the output — they are not a real association and shouldn't be used to benchmark your own budget.

One of the most common questions is "why does this budget look so different from that one?" Usually the answer is configuration. This page threads a single example association through a baseline draft, then flips one high-impact setting so you can see the effect with your own eyes.

Meet the example association

Maple Court Condominium (illustrative): 80 units, a July fiscal-year start, Operating and Reserve funds, about three years of Vantaca history, a landscape contract and a pool contract on file, and a current reserve study uploaded to its documents.

The baseline draft

With the questionnaire mostly blank (the agent auto-detects), and Budget Setup using All GLs, three historical years, and Proposed Year Monthly as the primary sheet, the Operating Budget comes out something like this:

GL line	Current Year Budget	Projected	Proposed
Landscaping	$48,000	$49,500	$51,000
Pool service	$12,000	$12,400	$12,800
Electricity	$9,000	$10,100	$10,400
Snow removal	$0	$0	$0
Legal — special projects	$0	$0	$0

Notice the last two rows: GLs that exist on the chart of accounts but have no budget and no activity this cycle. With All GLs selected, they still appear — as zero rows.

Flip one setting: GL Inclusion

Now change GL Inclusion (in Budget Setup UI settings) from All GLs to With a budget or activity, and re-run. The math on the active lines is unchanged — but GLs with neither a budget nor any activity (the two zero rows) drop out:

GL line	Current Year Budget	Projected	Proposed
Landscaping	$48,000	$49,500	$51,000
Pool service	$12,000	$12,400	$12,800
Electricity	$9,000	$10,100	$10,400

All GL's

All GL's w Budget or Activity

The takeaway

One setting changed which rows appear, without touching the numbers on the lines that remained. (A third option, With activity only, is stricter still — it also drops a GL that has an approved budget but no spending yet.) That's the pattern across most of configuration: each setting changes either the numbers, the layout, or which rows show up. The same idea applies to the sheet toggles, theming, the primary sheet, and the projection thresholds — see Budget Setup UI settings for what each one does.

Want to ground this in your own data? Your HOAi contact can walk a real, validated association through the same before/after.

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↩ Part of Setup & configuration · Budgets — Start here