At the top of the form, enter a partial or complete name or number in the Find budget field to find and select the budget record that you want to view or edit. Your current record selection will be preserved if you switch to another application and then return to this form.

If you use multiple companies, you can select only budgets for the active company that you are working in. The name of the active company displays on the right side of the Vantagepoint main toolbar.

The Search Navigation Controls display to the right of the Find lookup field at the top of most Vantagepoint hub and application forms. Use these controls and their related components to quickly locate a saved search, create ad hoc or new searches, page through records, find and select multiple hub records, and view selected hub or application records in () Detail View.

On the Saved Search control (), click  to display the Saved Searches (left) pane and Record Selection (right) pane. Most search types include standard, personal (My Searches), shared, and complex searches, as well as an ad hoc search Selection. Available search types vary, depending on the active hub or application form.

When you add new records in most hub and application forms, you can easily group and track them from the Search Navigation Control in detail view. On the active form, click the + New <record> button, complete the required information for each new record, and then click Save. Vantagepoint displays both a saved confirmation message and the New Records label () that appears in the Saved Search control. As you add new records, Vantagepoint orders the records sequentially. You can use the paging control to review and edit each new record on the active hub or application form.

When you access a different field or search on the hub or application form or navigate away from the form, you lose the ability to view and track the new records. The New Records label then reverts to the Saved Search control ().

For more information about Search Navigation Controls, see Components of a Search, Use Search Navigation Controls to Filter and Refine Records, and Use Search Navigation Controls to Track New Records.

To filter the list of budgets, select one of the following search types:

• Quick Find: Use this field to locate a specific search or group of searches in a long list of searches. Enter one or more characters in this field and then pause to allow time for the results set to refresh. The records returned for the search are listed in the Records Selection pane.
• Selection: If available, this ad hoc search displays in the Saved Search control and also in the Saved Searches list. This type of search is based on an existing search in the Saved Searches list and, typically, comprises a portion of all the available hub or application records that were included in the saved search. Use this type of search to quickly view a specific subset of records for a standard search.

  Only one ad hoc Selection is available at any given time and will remain unchanged until you either update it or create an ad hoc search.

  For more information, see Select Hub Records for an Ad Hoc Search and Edit an Ad Hoc Search Selection.

• In Progress: Select from a list of all open budgets to which you have access.
• Closed: Select from a list of all closed budgets to which you have access.
• All: Select from a list of all budgets to which you have access.

For information about how to filter and refine search records, see Use Search Navigation Controls to Filter and Refine Records.

For information about creating and using searches, see the Search Vantagepoint help topics.

Use these arrow icons to scroll through the records in the search results and display a different record on the form. The numbers indicate which record you are viewing out of the total number of records in the search results.

• Approve: Click this action to approve the budget and add a comment.
• Reject: Click this action to reject the budget and add a comment, such as the reason why the budget was rejected.
• Reassign: Click this action to display a dialog box that you can use to add the approval assignment to an additional user, or move the assignment to a new user.
• Reopen: Click this action to reopen a budget that was approved. You can also add a comment, such as the reason for reopening the budget.
• Restart Approval: Click this action to restart the approval process for a budget that was revised.

If  appears next to  on the timeline, this indicates that the record has been either rejected or returned. You can click  to scroll the timeline and see the previous action.

When you create a new budget, the current year displays in this field. You can change the year. The entry in this field is used to select budgets by year for general ledger reporting.

Specify the organization to associate with this budget. This is useful for reporting purposes. You can enter the name in this field or use the lookup to select an organization. You can access budgets only for organizations to which you have the proper security access rights.

Enter a numeric range of periods to include in the current budget. For example if your periods coincide with calendar months, enter 1 in the first field and 12 in the second field to cover the entire year.

By default, Vantagepoint includes 12 fields for the period range, 1-12. You can change this range in Utilities > Period Setup. No matter what you enter for the period range, fields 1-12 remain visible and active. However, for functions such as distributing or compounding the annual budget, Vantagepoint uses the values that you enter in the Period Range fields.

For example, if you enter 1 and 3 in these fields, select an account from the Budget grid, and set Other Actions to Compound Annual Budget at 10%, Vantagepoint calculates the annual budget for three periods, and populates the appropriate values in Fields 1, 2, and 3 only.

Use this field to record general notes about the budget. To change the text formatting, expand the Notes toolbar and use the Text Editor. This field may include notes about changes to the budget or specific information for the individual reviewing the budget. This information does not print on any General Ledger report.

Select this checkbox to distribute the amount entered in an account's Annual field evenly across all periods. You must select this option before you enter the amount. Vantagepoint calculates the distribution after you enter a value in the Annual field and then move the cursor off the field.

Click this icon to maximize or minimize the Budget grid.

Click this icon to export the grid data to a comma-separated values (CSV) file.

Click this action to divide the total budget amount, in the Annual field, by the number of periods and then enter the result in each of the period fields.

Click this action to add the total of all amounts in each period field for the selected account and then enter the result in the Annual field.

Click this action to create a budget in which period amounts are compounded by either a percentage or a fixed monetary amount.

Click this action to adjust your annual general ledger budget by increasing or decreasing the budget for each period. You can adjust the period amounts by a percentage or by a fixed monetary amount.

Select the row before applying actions.

Enter an account number or select one on the Account Lookup dialog box.

If you use multiple companies, you can select only accounts to which the budget has access. A budget can access any account set up with the Available to all Companies option on the Accounts form (Settings > General Ledger > Chart of Accounts), or any account to which the budget's associated organization and company have access. A budget is associated with an organization from the Organization field on this form, and each organization is associated with a company. Each account can be associated with any number of companies in the Company Access grid on the Accounts form in Settings.

When you enter an account in the Account field, this field populates with the name of the account, as specified on the Accounts form in Settings > General Ledger > Chart of Accounts.

You can change the account name here. If you do, the name you enter displays on the printed budget. However, changing the name here does not also change the name in Settings.

Enter the total annual amount of the budget. You can enter this amount manually, or enter period-by-period amounts and click Reset Annual to have Vantagepoint calculate the resulting annual budget.

Enter a budget for each period in the year. You can enter these amounts manually, have them automatically calculated based on the annual amount, or copy them from the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, or another budget.

Enter an amount in this column if you want to track an amount associated with a budget line; for example, if you want to adjust a budget amount but still keep track of the original amount. The reference column can be used for many purposes but is for display only. It does not affect any calculations or distributions.

Enter notes about the selected account budget. To change the text formatting, click  and use the Text Editor. This field may include notes about changes to the budget or specific information for the individual reviewing the budget. This information does not print on any General Ledger report.

Click  at the end of a row and then select one of the following options:

• Copy: Copy the selected row.
• Delete: Remove the selected account from the budget.

Click this option to add an account to your budget. A new, blank row opens on the grid.

By default, 12 fields display, for the period range, 1-12. (You can change this range in Utilities.). Whatever you enter in the Period Range fields on the Budget tab, fields 1-12 will remain visible and active. However, for functions such as distributing or compounding the annual budget, Vantagepoint uses the values you enter in the Period Range fields.

For example if you enter 1 and 3 in the Period Range fields, select an account in the Budget grid, and click Tools > Compound Annual Budget at 10%, Vantagepoint calculates the annual budget for three periods, and populates the appropriate values in Fields 1, 2, and 3 only.