BlackBaud Budgets

Matthew Handley

Hello everyone,


I am the Budget Accountant at for a CHC in SC. I was wondering if anyone has found a way to upload or make changes to a budget other than manual entry. We have the budgets in Blackbaud and i was looking to see if there was anyway I could import from excel kinda like how you import JE's. 

Roberta A. Gilbert

You can import a budget from a csv file.  Export your Excel budget to csv first, and add a column for your Scenario ID.  Part of the import process will let you validate your source file before it uploads, so if it contains anything it shouldn't (totals,formatting, extraneous info, etc), it will identify any changes you need to make first. You'll be able to map your document field names to the ones that are baked into FE also.  I usually upload a full budget without finalizing it, and then make any requested changes by hand.  You can also upload different budget scenarios for a fiscal year, and compare reports until you decide which one you want to keep.  Or you can keep one as final and others as conditional.


Look in the Knowledgebase for the Budget manual, which goes through every step of this process.  I've done this in FE7 for a number of years, and it's rare that I get a perfect upload on the first try.  But it beats entering hundreds of lines by hand.  If you really get stuck, just ask in here or contact FE support.  Good luck!

Matthew Handley

Thank you Roberta for the advice this will help a lot. 

Donella Robb

Hi Matthew,

Are you using FE NXT? And either Excel 365 or 2016?  If you are there is an Excel Add-in that you can use to upload and edit budgets.  I usually wait until my budget is finalized before creating & importing the new budget. But you are also able to edit an existing budget by pulling into Excel using the Add-in, making changes, and then importing back into FE NXT.  The pro of doing this in NXT is that you can import your budget with multiple dimensions (account, project, tcode).  Someone from Blackbaud can perhaps comment more about importing budget into NXT.


I found this help file online: https://webfiles.blackbaud.com/files/support/helpfiles/fe/content/fe-budget-excel-add-in.html#:~:text=The%20Budget%20Creator%20add%2Din,or%20update%20an%20existing%20one.


For adding to Excel, this references the Excel Add-in menu, which I can never seem to find, so I typed in "store" in the search bar in Excel, then selected "browse add-ins", then in the window that opened, typed "Blackbaud" in to the search box then selected the Budget add-in which then lives on the Home ribbon in Excel going forward. Your FE administrator also needs to enable the "Budget Creator" in Control Panel/Applications in FE NXT.  When set up, you are prompted to log into FE NXT from Excel in order for the API to connect.


I hope this is helpful!

Matthew Handley

Yes I was looking at this add on this morning. This was just what I was looking for. Thank you so much you saved me hours worth of data entry. 

Roberta A. Gilbert

I didn't know about the Excel Add-in either, thanks for mentioning it, Donella.  I've always done my imports in the Database.  I have Excel 365 in the office, but our office is all-Mac.  When I go to Tools >> Excel Add-ins, my only choices are Saveasadobepdf[sic] (already chosen), Analysis ToolPak, and Solver.  If I click Browse there is nothing called Store or anything Blackbaud-related at all.  I'm wondering if this only works in Windows (when I get home tonight, I will check, I use Windows 10 at home).  The link you posted doesn't say anything about the OS or browser requirements, but I know FE was originally written for Windows and I've had to compromise in the office before, especially with keyboard shortcuts (which I cannot live without).


Also do you know if this Add-in will work with non-Microsoft spreadsheets?  (e.g. LibreOffice, Open Office or Google Sheets?)


Thanks!  And Matthew, I'm glad you were able to find help here.  The people who use Blackbaud are generally pretty knowledgeable, so you did the right thing by asking.


Roberta

 

Roberta A. Gilbert

Donella Robb:
Your FE administrator also needs to enable the "Budget Creator" in Control Panel/Applications in FE NXT.  When set up, you are prompted to log into FE NXT from Excel in order for the API to connect.


I hope this is helpful!

One other thing.  I am the FE Admin, but in NXT under Control Panel, I don't see Applications listed.  I have Security, Settings, Fields and Tables.  Since this is web-based, I don't think it's an OS issue.  Any ideas?


Thanks, RAG

Matthew Handley

Thank you for the advice.

Will Wellman

Hi Roberta, 


The "Applications" area was recently moved from the Control Panel to the "Marketplace", which you can access via the hamburger icon (three lines in the top left of your FENXT window) to enable the Budget Creator Add-in. 


Hope that helps! 

Roberta A. Gilbert

Will Wellman:

Hi Roberta, 


The "Applications" area was recently moved from the Control Panel to the "Marketplace", which you can access via the hamburger icon (three lines in the top left of your FENXT window) to enable the Budget Creator Add-in. 


Hope that helps! 

Thanks, Will.  I would never look in something called "Marketplace" to find Budget tools.  I don't know whose decision that was, but budgeting is a primary accounting function, and should be listed with other accounting functions in the main NXT Menu.  It's basic functionality accountants have used in FE7 for a long time, and shouldn't be buried in a subsidiary menu.  Please bring it back front & center!  JE batches too.  Anything that is a basic function in FE7 should be listed in the main FE NXT menu, even if to you they feel like "apps" coded by different people.  To us they are necessary and frequently accessed functions.  I know you're trying to get more people to use NXT - and one way to ensure we use it, is to make the things we do every day more accessible.  Please don't make us dig and search and guess where they might have disappeared to.  I'll just use FE7 if I have to dig down into hidden menus to see if maybe something I need is there.  Thank you as always.

Thomas Walker

it is only the Budget excel -add in that is located in the Marketplace. All of the functions you would expect to see in GL, such as JE and Budgets etc are in the webview drop down

Kim Szalkus

Thanks Roberta.  This is how we load budgets - importing using the database version of FE.  I have had issues with the excel add-in, with how it handles contra-revenue accounts.  Can never get the sign to load properly.