# Generate budgets in one step

Create the budgets of a whole year in one step with the Budget Generator, one per month, quarter or year, with a line for every department, then type the planned amounts.

Typing twelve monthly budgets with seven departments each is slow. The **Budget Generator** creates them in one step: one budget for every whole period of the span you give, and inside each budget one line for every combination of the analytic accounts of the plans you pick. The lines start at zero; you then type the amounts.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- The generator is in the configuration menu and needs the **Administrator** access right on **Accounting**.
- The analytic plans you pick must hold accounts for the current company. On the demo company, **Departments** has seven.

## Generate the budgets {#generate}

1. Open **Accounting/Configuration/Budget Generator**. A window opens with **Date Range** on one side and **Breakdown** on the other.
2. In **From** and **To**, give the span: 01/01/2027 and 31/12/2027. Under **Repeat**, choose **Quarter by Quarter**. **Month by Month** gives twelve budgets for a year, **Year by Year** (the default) one.

![The span of the year 2027, cut quarter by quarter.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9946-d3796a78/budgets-generate-generator_range-en.png)

3. In **Dimensions**, pick **Departments**. Each analytic account of the plan gets its own line in every budget. Picking two plans multiplies them: with **Departments** and a plan of ten projects, each budget holds seventy lines, one per department and project.
4. Keep **Applies To** on **Spending** for costs, and choose the **Enforcement** the budgets should record. Both are copied to every budget created.

![The Departments plan as the dimension; each department gets its own line in every budget.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9950-660d6009/budgets-generate-generator_dimensions-en.png)

5. Click **Generate**. The **Generated Budget Lines** list opens, grouped by budget: **Budget Q1 2027** to **Budget Q4 2027**, seven lines each, all at zero.

![The generated lines, grouped by budget, one budget per quarter of 2027.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9954-76ffd5e1/budgets-generate-generated_lines-en.png)

The budgets are named after their period (**Budget 2027**, **Budget Q1 2027**, **Budget January 2027**) in the language of the person who generates them. They are created in **Draft**, for the current company, with you as **Responsible** and the usual **Alert At (%)** of 90.

## Type the planned amounts {#planned-amounts}

1. Open **Accounting/Accounting/Budgets/Analytic Budgets** and open **Budget Q1 2027**.
2. In the **Budget Items** tab, click the **Legal** line and type its **Planned** amount, here `12000`. Do the same for the other departments.
3. Click the cloud icon **Save manually**.

![A generated budget, still a draft, with the planned amount typed on the Legal line.](https://jaah.app/web/image/9958-a9a9a977/budgets-generate-generated_planned-en.png)

When the amounts are agreed, open **Actions** and choose **Put in Service** on each budget, as in [Your first budget](first-budget). A line left at zero turns red, over budget, at the first expense it counts.

## What the generator leaves out {#rules}

- Only whole periods inside the span: a span from 15/01/2027 to 31/12/2027 with **Quarter by Quarter** starts at the second quarter, because the first one does not fit entirely. A span too short for a single period creates nothing and says so.
- One run creates at most 5,000 lines. Above that, the generator stops before creating anything and asks for a shorter span, a longer period or fewer dimensions.
- A plan with no analytic account for the current company stops the run with a message that names it.

## FAQ {#faq}

### What if I run the generator twice for the same year? {#twice}

It creates a second set of budgets; nothing checks for the first. Two budgets may watch the same department, and each shows the whole spending, so keep one set: open the extra budgets and choose **Cancel** in **Actions**.

### Can I add a line the generator did not create? {#add-a-line}

Yes. A generated budget is an ordinary draft: **Add a line** in its **Budget Items** tab works as in any budget.

### Can I generate budgets for a project instead of a department? {#projects}

Pick the plan that holds your projects in **Dimensions**. Any analytic plan of the database can be chosen, alone or with others.

### Who can use the Budget Generator? {#access}

Only the **Administrator** access right on **Accounting** sees its menu. The **Read-only** access right sees the budgets it creates, not the generator.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/budgets/generate-budgets
- Updated: 2026-10-23
- Version: Budgets 19.0.1.1.1
- Verified: 2026-10-23