This is the third configuration bucket — the Budget Setup UI settings on the right-hand panel of the Budget Setup screen. They control how every budget is calculated and how the output workbook is shaped. (The other two buckets are the Vantaca-side prerequisites and the Configuration Questionnaire.)
Most settings are company-wide defaults — set them once and every association draft uses them. Pick any association in the preview dropdown to see a sample render update in real time before you run a real budget.
Fiscal year & history
- Fiscal Year Start Month — defines the budget year boundaries and which months count as closed actuals. Affects the numbers.
- Historical Actual Years (0–10; most teams choose 3) — how many prior-year actual columns appear on the sheet. More years gives the agent more context to project from. Affects layout; more years can improve projections.
Which sheets are produced
- Summary — a high-level tab. On/off.
- Mailing Sheet — a simplified one-page budget summary suited to mailing to owners. On/off.
- Maintenance Schedule — component-level maintenance projections. On/off.
The four core sheets (Operating Budget, Reserve Budget, Proposed Year Monthly, Current Year Monthly) are always produced — see Reading the on-screen preview. The Assessment Schedule and Reserve Schedule sheets are not currently available (in active development) — leave them off for now; see What's not supported yet.
Budget columns
Toggle which columns appear on the budget sheet: Current Year Budget, YTD, Remaining, Projected, Proposed Budget, Variance (%), and Budget vs Projected Net Change (the proposed-vs-projected dollar change). You can rename and show/hide these, but adding columns beyond this built-in set isn't supported — see Modifying the draft.
Primary (source-of-truth) sheet
Choose which sheet holds the raw, editable proposed numbers that the others derive from: Proposed Year Monthly (default), Current Year Monthly, or Annual Budget. This decides where you make edits and how the Remaining column is summed. Affects layout and where you edit.
GL inclusion
- Expense GLs — include All GLs, only those with a budget or activity, or only those with activity. Narrower options produce a leaner sheet. Affects which rows appear.
- Income GLs — include budgeted-only, or budgeted or with activity. Use "with activity" when you need the draft to reconcile to the latest financial report. Affects which income rows appear.
Projection thresholds
Two safeguards control when the agent trusts current-year actuals to build the Projected column versus falling back to the approved budget:
- Minimum months of actuals — below this many closed months, the agent projects from the approved budget instead of thin actuals.
- Minimum actual-to-budget ratio — if actuals are running far below budget (below this ratio), the agent falls back to the approved budget rather than projecting an unrealistically low full year.
These matter most early in the fiscal year and for associations with little history — they stop one or two unusual months from distorting the whole projection. See Projection methods.
Monthly-sheet variance
Optionally add Variance ($) and Variance (%) columns to the monthly sheets, not just the annual sheet. Affects layout.
Theming
Apply a preset or set custom colors, fonts, and header styling so the workbook matches your company's brand. Affects layout only.
Workbook protection (cell locking)
When protection is on, the rendered workbook locks the formula and actual cells and leaves the proposed-year cells editable, so a reviewer can change the proposal without breaking the linked formulas. Subtotal and total rows stay locked. Affects the output workbook only.
What each setting affects — quick reference
| Setting | Affects the numbers | Affects layout / display | Re-run to apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal Year Start Month | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Historical Actual Years | Indirectly | Yes | Yes |
| Sheets (Summary / Mailing / Maintenance) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Budget columns | No | Yes | No (toggle in preview) |
| Primary sheet | No | Yes | Yes |
| GL inclusion (expense / income) | Yes (which rows) | Yes | Yes |
| Projection thresholds | Yes | No | Yes |
| Monthly-sheet variance | No | Yes | Yes |
| Theming | No | Yes | No |
| Workbook protection | No | Yes (locking) | Yes |
See it in action in the worked example, which flips one setting and shows the before/after.
A note on availability: the exact settings you see can depend on your company's configuration — some teams have a subset enabled. If a setting described here isn't visible, your HOAi contact can confirm whether it's enabled for your company. Per-unit assessment display and side-by-side budget scenarios (multiple % increases / reserve-funding levels) are not currently available; see What's not supported yet (and what's coming).
↩ Part of Setup & configuration · Budgets — Start here
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