Jet Budgets Technical FAQ

Forecasting

Templates & Copying Budgets

Licensing

Security

Budget Structure & Work Items

Data Entry

Reporting

Integration with NAV/GP/BC

GP-Specific Integration

Jet Analytics OLAP Cubes

Localization & Currencies

Does the product support spreading? (e.g. Spreading an annual value across budget periods)

Spreading can be done in Excel, not in the web entry, by running a report using Jet Functions to pull actuals, applying a value across budget periods, and then uploading to Jet Budgets.

Can budgets be split/allocated based on another budget figure? For example, use an existing budget as a template and amend by 5%.

This can be done by using the Excel Add-In and the GL function to pull in data from an existing budget.  Excel calculations can then be used for changing the existing numbers.  The budget can then be saved and uploaded back into Jet Budgets.

Does Jet Budgets support seeding in the web entry format?

Many Budget Owners want to provide previous years' numbers with some type of multiplier to make it easy for contributors to provide data for a work item without having to be Excel experts.  A Budget Owner can create a report using the GL function to pull last year's numbers and increase or decrease the forecast by a multiplier as needed.  They can then copy the numbers and paste them into the web entry work item for easy seeding.  They can then assign the work item to a contributor with the data already seeded into the web entry.  If the contributor wants to adjust the numbers, they can do so on-line. While seeding does require a bit of copy and paste, it still saves time.

Does Jet Budgets automatically seed numbers from previous accounting periods?

While Jet Budgets doesn't provide automated seeding from previous years, a Budget Owner can seed a Work Item by pulling data from previous accounting periods into Excel and then making it available to a budget contributor to use for work items.

Does Jet Budgets support non-financial values? 

Non-financial values can be used in the budgeting process (ie: quantities, units, etc.) to help arrive at the financial numbers that are stored in Jet Budgets. This would be handled using entry in Excel and uploaded to Jet Hub.

Does the product support the ability to change drivers/variables in one place and have them automatically update the budget?  Do we plan to support global drivers?

The initial product release will not support driver- based Budgets.  However, this feature is under consideration for a future release.

Does the product support modeling scenarios?

The web tool doesn't currently support this; however, it can be done in Excel.

Can Jet Budgets consolidate budgets for multiple companies?

Budgets for multiple companies can be consolidated by running a Jet Report and using the Jet Functions.

Can I change companies in a budget?

This is a function we don't currently support, but are looking at it for the future. Different companies may have different charts of accounts, which could make this feature problematic.

Where do I see which company I'm working on a budget in for a multi-company set up?

The company a budget is being prepared for is visible by opening the right pane of a budget.  The info in this pane includes the data source, company, date range and dimensions in the budget.

Can budget categories be imported from an Excel file?

Currently Jet Budgets supports accounts, but not account categories.

Does the budget have version history to compare and summarize changes to versions? Where is the version history stored? if a budget is submitted from Excel then how do you see what was changed, when, and by who?

We do track changes and when using the GL(JetBudget) function to drill down on numbers, the users will see all of the actions that make up the budget history for that work item. For example, the number for a work item for a month may be $2000 at the moment, but this could be made up of an initial entry of $1,500, a subsequent one for $1,000 (total of $2,500) and then a reduction of -$500 to arrive at the $2,000. The user would be able to see this "audit" when they drill down.

If there are many items consolidated to a single GL account, can you look backwards to see what work items roll up to that account?

The work item is input into the online entry and then the budget can be opened in Excel.  From Excel, you can drill down into the details. Note that drill down is not possible in Jet Hub.

Where is Jet Budgets data stored?

Budget data is stored in the Jet Service Tier database.

What languages is the product localized in?

The product supports our standard localized languages: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish. The language is picked when the user logs in.  Please note that product names do not get translated.

How does Jet Budgets handle budgets in multiple currencies?

Only single currencies can be imported into the ERP.  If multiple currencies are used in a budget, the user will need to use Excel currency conversion functionality to convert to a single currency.

Can I copy a template 49 times for each work item?

A work item can be created from a template, the work item can be renamed and the filters can be changed as many times as a user wants.

I don't want to re-invent the wheel every year.  Can I copy and paste the budget from the previous year?

The budget structure from a previous year can indeed be copied. However, in the first release, the numbers are not brought over.

Is there a way to use the same budget template for multiple companies and multiple databases?

Theoretically, this could be done.  However, if the chart of accounts and dimensions are different across the companies, we recommend creating a new structure.

Can you create a template in one budget and use it in another?

At this time, templates are specific to the budget being worked on.

Is it possible to have 3 versions of the same budget without actually creating 3 separate versions that independently need updating throughout the budgeting process?

Currently, the budgets in Jet Budgets are separate and there isn't a way to create a master budget that three separate budgets roll up to.  However, a budget structure could be created with each version of the budget as the top levels of the structure, with separate structures below it.  Of course, a budget can be copied and 2 copies could be created, but that may not address the master budget issue.

Does Jet Budgets support uploading budgets into Dynamics 365 Business Central? Dynamics NAV? Dynamics GP?

Yes. Jet Budgets was purpose-built for immediate integration with Dynamics 365 Business Central, NAV and GP. Budget numbers can be written directly back into Dynamics using the native import functionality of each system.

Who can see/access Jet Budgets

Before a Jet user can view or create a budget, be added to a budget, or assigned a task, they must first be added to the Jet Service Tier. This task is usually done by the person in charge of administrative tasks for your Jet suite of products, typically someone in the IT department with admin privileges.

Specifically:

• The organization must be licensed for Jet Budgets
• The user must have Budgets access:
• Be a Jet Hub Admin
• Be a Jet Hub User to whom Create Budget permission has been granted (by an Admin)
• Be a Jet Hub User who has been added to a Budget by an Admin or Owner

Our IT Administrators have access to everything.  Is there any way we can lock them out of access to support documents that contain confidential info, i.e. payroll?

If someone is an administrator in Jet Hub they can change the budget owner for a budget but do not have the ability to look at the details of the budget work items. Only people who are associated with the work items or the budget owner will have the ability to download and view the supporting documents.

How can budgets be secured?  Particularly if a budget for payroll is being put together and the Finance team doesn’t want anyone else seeing payroll numbers? 

Regarding the securing of numbers, only people associated with work items can see or report on those numbers, so if there was a work item for payroll that had salary info in an Excel file only the approver/contributor/owner could see that. Also, if someone was using GL Jet Budgets to report they can only report on the numbers they are associated with, so somebody not on that work item could not pull the numbers out to drill down and see details.

We have multiple Budget Owners and multiple companies.  How do we assign permissions so they don't see other companies' budgets?

When you're in Jet Hub, you assign the ability for users to create budgets by giving them the Budget Owner permissions. This is done by going to Gear -> Admin -> Permissions -> Budget Owner Add/Remove. Once a user has this permission, they can create a budget and then add other users to that budget.  Budget Owners can only see budgets they have created or that they have been added to by someone else.  A budget user (Budget Contributor) can only see the budgets they have been added to as well.

Does a Jet Budgets user need to also be set up as a user in Jet Reports?

Users that are using Jet Budgets will need to be set up in Jet Hub so they can log in and use the tool.  If the Jet Budgets User is also going to be pulling data from the data source to help them with Budgets or run a report, they will need access to that data source.  In many cases, the Budget Owner will provide the user (Budget Contributor) with an Excel file that contains data they will need for their piece of the budget.  In that case, they don't need to have access to the data source.

Do you have to be a Designer to use Jet Budgets and to download a template?

No, you don't have to be a designer but you need to be assigned as a 'User' in Jet Hub.

Can the owner on a budget be changed?

Yes, the owner can be changed.

Once you have selected a budget to open in Excel, how can you change the approver/ contributor?

All role assignments are done in Jet Budgets online. The Approver and Contributor can be changed for work items opened in Excel and assigned to another user as follows:

• Select the Work Item from the Work Items page in Jet Budgets
• Click ‘Edit’ at the bottom of the page
• A window will pop up allowing you to change Contributors and Approvers. You can then ‘Save and Resend’ the Work Item Assignment.

Can there be multiple Budget Owners assigned to the same budget?

No, there can only be one budget owner currently.

Can budget contributors add supporting files?

Only Budget Owners can add attachments to Jet Budgets. Contributors provide data input into their assigned Work Items and those are saved for the Budget Owner to review.  Any additional worksheets in that Excel file will be saved as well; however, the product doesn’t allow Contributors to attach supporting files to their work.

How is budget data reported?

There are three options for reporting data:

• Data can be reported out of Jet Budgets using the GL Jet Budgets function.
• Budget numbers can be written back to Business Central, NAV or GP using the native import functionality of each system.
• Budgets can be reported out of finance cubes with Jet Analytics.

Is it possible to report against two different budgets?

Yes, you can report against each budget in the same report. In each GL function, the user can specify the budget it should pull data from.

Will sample reports for Jet Budgets be available at release?

Sample budget reports are available in the Resource Library.

What is the licensing agreement for Jet Budgets?  Is it a separate license from Jet Reports?

Whoever is a user in Jet Reports, can use Jet Budgets as long as the customer has purchased the Jet Budgets product. The same users and designers that are in the Jet Reports license will be able to use Jet Budgets.  It won't be a separate per user license.  However, if they aren't Jet users, they would be considered additional users and would need to be added.