Help for your first budget. And your next one.

Choose a template

Start with a structure that is close to your business, then make it yours.

1. Open New plan and compare the template descriptions and categories. Choose the structure that best reflects how you plan revenue, expenses and teams today.
2. Select Use template. The new plan starts with editable inputs, a connected P&L, and Budget, Forecast and imported Actuals versions; it does not copy the public demo values.
3. Confirm the plan name, fiscal year and currency before creating it. You can adapt the structure later; start with the smallest useful choice.

Understand view and edit mode

The grid opens safely for reading. Enter edit mode only when you are ready to change an input.

1. Open a template in Templates. The grid can show calculated values and totals, but they are not all editable inputs.
2. Select Edit above the grid before changing a value. To edit a selected eligible cell, use F2 or double-click it. Calculated and locked cells stay protected.
3. If the template uses dimensions, choose one final member in each required filter first. Consolidated views remain read-only so a value is never written to the wrong scope.

Fill revenue and expenses

Enter planning assumptions in input rows; formulas and totals update from those inputs.

1. Select the Budget version to plan. Actuals are imported business results, so they are not filled from Budget inputs.
2. In the relevant template, choose the period and enter your own revenue or expense assumption in an input row. Start a formula with = when the value should be calculated.
3. Do not overwrite a calculated result. Check its source and the reporting connection instead; a planned input reaches the P&L only through its configured mapping.

Check the impact in the P&L

Use the P&L to trace one saved planning input into the working result.

1. Open the P&L from the sidebar and keep the same scenario, period and permitted dimensions used for the input.
2. Review the related revenue or expense line. Select an amount to see its source and use Open source to return to the template when you need to check the input.
3. The working P&L changes with the plan. It is different from a published P&L, which is a dated approved snapshot.

Your first connected P&L

Start with one expense. See its effect on the P&L, then build the rest of your plan.

1. Start with the editable SaaS B2B template. You can change its lines, formulas and dimensions, add new templates, or build another plan from scratch. Excel/CSV import remains an alternative. Actuals start empty.
2. In Templates, open Marketing and enter Paid media for the first month. Wait for Saved. Revenue & retention and People are available when you are ready to add revenue drivers and payroll. The Budget version is for planning inputs.
3. Open the P&L at the top of the sidebar. Check the same period and expand Expenses to trace the Marketing expense back to its template. This working view changes with your inputs; it is not a published approval.
4. Before sharing, configure owners and approval steps. A saved number, an approved template and a published P&L are three different states.

Bring Excel or CSV

The preview is a review step, not a promise that every workbook is compatible.

1. Use New plan → Excel/CSV. Confirm the sheet, header, periods, values and destination. Keep an untouched copy of the source file.
2. Review warnings and unsupported formulas before confirming. Macros, external links and every Excel function are not guaranteed to transfer. Simplify the source or rebuild the unsupported rule explicitly.
3. Validate a month and the annual total against the original. A correct file total does not replace checking the reporting map: each planned line must reach the intended P&L account.

Cells, formulas and periods

Templates are for inputs. Template settings are for the model’s structure.

1. Select a cell, then Shift-click another to select a rectangle. Use Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V. To paste into selected cells, leave text-edit mode first; while editing, shortcuts act on the text.
2. Type = to start a formula. Refer to a cell such as A1 or a line key. Enter confirms; F2 edits the selected cell. Drag the lower-right handle to fill. Relative references move with the destination; $ fixes a row or column.
3. Use the Period filter to set a start and end, or Full horizon to reset. Filter dimensions before entering a value. Access restrictions determine which members you can see; a filter does not grant permission.
4. If a result is wrong, open “Where did it come from?” and check the source, version, period and reporting map. Do not overwrite the calculated result to hide the problem.

Actuals are not your Budget

Budget is a plan. Forecast is a revision. Actuals are recorded business results.

1. Open Actuals in the configuration navigation and upload a CSV/XLSX balance or ledger file. Map accounts, amounts, periods and any dimensions. Review the reconciliation preview before importing.
2. Actuals do not inherit Budget. No imported data means no recorded Actuals—not that the business result was zero. Certify the imported periods after checking them; certification requires a saved plan.
3. In the P&L, enable Actuals comparison and choose the Budget or Forecast version to compare. Match the period range to the imported months. A separate horizontal-analysis option shows month-to-month change for one scenario.
4. Read the variation label: Actual minus Budget is an arithmetic difference; a favorable variance also considers whether higher or lower is better for that account. Expand the line or use ledger details to investigate imported transactions.

Owners, access and approvals

Assign what someone can edit separately from who must approve it.

1. In model settings, create dimensions and members. In People & access, invite the person by email and choose their role, templates and permitted dimension members. Configuration is not available to every contributor.
2. Select the template’s approval workflow, add ordered stages and approver emails. “All” requires every approver in that stage; “Any one” allows one of them to complete it. Drawing a workflow is not the same as inviting its participants.
3. The contributor submits the completed template. An approver approves or returns it with a reason. Returned work must be corrected and resubmitted. Check the cycle trail before assuming every stage is complete.
4. Publish the P&L only after the readiness checks pass. The publication is a dated snapshot; the working P&L can continue changing. Use the published view when sharing an approved number.

Saving and recovering your work

Wait for “Saved” before closing a real plan. The public demo deliberately does not save.

1. In a saved plan, cell changes are saved automatically. Some configuration forms have Apply or Save buttons: confirm the form, then check the top-bar save status.
2. If saving fails, keep the tab open, restore your connection and use Retry when offered. Do not treat a visible edited cell as proof that it reached the server.
3. If another tab or person saved a newer revision, do not blindly overwrite it. Follow the conflict message, preserve an export of your current work when possible, and compare before reopening the latest version.
4. The /demo workspace uses synthetic data and only browser memory. Reloading or leaving it discards edits. Create your own plan to keep your work; never upload confidential data to the public demo.

Trial, plans and billing

Try the planning workflow before choosing capacity.

1. The trial lasts 7 days and does not require a card. Starter includes 1 planner, Growth 3 and Scale 10, with separate collaborator allowances. Prices are monthly in USD in English and BRL in Portuguese, at a fixed US$1 = R$5.10. All paid plans include Actuals vs Budget comparisons.
2. Open workspace Settings to check the subscription and limits. An authorized workspace manager can start checkout or open the billing portal when billing is available. Confirm the final terms in checkout before paying.
3. If checkout is unavailable or a payment is still processing, do not assume an upgrade succeeded. Check the workspace subscription status before retrying. Export the data you need before ending a subscription; data retention and billing cancellation are separate matters.

Questions & support

Tell us which screen you were using, what you expected and what happened. If you include a screenshot, hide financial values and personal information. Never send passwords, access codes or a complete financial file by email.

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