Light's budget feature lets you upload one or more budget scenarios as CSV files and compare them against your actual ledger data. You can maintain multiple scenarios simultaneously — for example a base plan and a revised forecast — and switch between them in the overview.
Uploading a budget scenario
Budgets are uploaded as CSV files using the template provided in the upload dialog.
- Navigate to Planning & Reports → Budget
- Click + Upload budget
- In the Upload budget dialog:
- Drag and drop a CSV file, or click to browse
- Use the Download template button to get the correct CSV structure
- Click Upload
- Light processes the file. The scenario appears in the list with a Synching... status while it is being processed
- Once complete the status changes to Complete. If the file fails validation the status shows Failed with an error tooltip
Good to know: Only CSV files are accepted. Download the template from the upload dialog to ensure your file is structured correctly.
Budget dimensions
Each uploaded scenario has up to three hierarchical dimension levels, determined by the columns in your CSV. Supported dimension types are:
| Dimension type | Description |
|---|---|
| Account | GL account |
| Account code | GL account code |
| Account ID | GL account ID |
| Account label | GL account label |
| Account type | GL account type |
| Business partner ID | Customer or vendor ID |
| Business partner name | Customer or vendor name |
| Company entity ID | Legal entity ID |
| Company entity name | Legal entity name |
| Custom property | Any custom property group configured in your organisation |
| Tax code | Tax code |
| Tax ID | Tax ID |
| Tax type | Tax type |
Dimensions are read-only after upload. To change dimensions, upload a new scenario.
Managing scenarios
All uploaded scenarios are listed in the Budget settings view with the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Budget name | Editable — click to rename |
| Levels | The dimension types in this scenario (shown as badges) |
| Status | Complete, Synching..., or Failed |
| Created by | The user who uploaded the scenario |
| Created at | Upload timestamp |
You can filter the list by status and search by name. Failed scenarios show an error description on hover.
Budget overview
The Overview tab shows how your actuals compare to the selected budget scenario.
Filters
| Filter | Notes |
|---|---|
| Budget scenario | Required — select which uploaded scenario to compare against |
| Report category | Defaults to Profit & Loss |
| Ledger account | Narrow to specific accounts |
| Ledger account type | Filter by account type |
| Ledger account classification | Filter by classification |
| Date range | The period to analyse |
Summary statistics
- YTD planned accuracy — the ratio of actual to planned amounts expressed as a percentage. Above 100% means spending exceeded plan.
- YTD variance — the difference between planned and actual amounts in your group currency. Negative values are shown in parentheses.
Actuals vs. planned chart
A bar chart showing per-period data with two series:
- Actual — what was recorded in the ledger (dark blue bars)
- Planned — the uploaded budget figure (white line)
Budget table
The table below the chart shows the full breakdown by the scenario's dimensions and period. Click any cell to drill into the underlying ledger transactions for that figure.
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