Budget Analysis Modal
The worst place to discover you're over budget is the error message after you've built the whole purchase order. The Budget Analysis button on the PO form answers the question while you're still drafting: given the lines on screen right now — not yet saved, not yet posted — where would this PO leave each account's budget?
Access you'll need. Anyone who can open the purchase order can run Budget Analysis on it — it only reads the budget, it changes nothing. Creating and editing purchase orders requires the Accounts Payable v2 permission set or Accounting Admin v2; the budgets it checks are maintained by the Accounting Admin v2 or Accounting Controller v2.
Using it
Draft your PO, then click Budget Analysis
The button sits in the PO form's header and wakes up once the PO has an entity and at least one line with a GL account — it analyzes exactly what's on screen, unsaved edits included.
Read the verdict cards
Four summary cards give the headline: This PO (its total), Available Budget, Remaining After PO, and Overall Status. When the entity enforces budget controls, a Budget Controls Enforced badge tells you a red verdict means blocked, not just frowned upon.
Drill the per-account table
One row per GL account the PO touches: GL Account · Lines · PO Amount · Effective Budget · Committed · Available · Remaining After · Status. Each row's status is one of Within Budget, Near Limit (less than 10% of the effective budget would remain), Over Budget, or No Budget (no line governs that account).
Meridian's janitorial PO, previewed
When Meridian drafted the $9,600 Sterling Janitorial purchase order against a fresh Other Operating Expenses line ($60,000 effective, nothing committed), the modal's table read:
| GL Account | Lines | PO Amount | Effective Budget | Committed | Available | Remaining After | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other Operating Expenses | 1 | $9,600 | $60,000 | $0 | $60,000 | $50,400 | Within Budget |
The summary cards told the same story in headline form — This PO $9,600, Available Budget $60,000, Remaining After PO $50,400, Overall Status Within Budget — and the PO posted minutes later without drama. Note that "Remaining After" is arithmetic on the numbers as of now: it becomes real only when this PO posts, and other POs posting first can change it.
Reading the overall status
| Verdict | Meaning | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| Within Budget | Every account fits | Post with confidence |
| Partial Coverage | Some accounts have no budget line | Fine if those accounts are deliberately unbudgeted |
| Over Budget — Warning | Doesn't fit, entity not enforcing | It would post — but the warning is the point; talk to the controller |
| Over Budget — Blocked | Doesn't fit, entity enforcing | Trim, fund, or escalate before posting (see enforcement options) |
| No Budget | No posted budget covers this entity and the PO date | Check a budget exists, is posted, and its Start–End dates cover the PO date |
Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Treating a morning's green verdict as an all-day pass | The preview reserves nothing — other POs posting in between consume the same Available | Re-run the analysis just before posting; it's one click on the same form |
| Skipping GL accounts on draft lines "for now" | The button stays disabled, or those lines fall out of the analysis | Give every line its GL account first — the analysis (and the eventual posting) both need it |
| Reading Partial Coverage as a failure | It only means some accounts have no budget line — often deliberate | Confirm the uncovered accounts are meant to be unbudgeted; if not, add lines to the budget |
| Ignoring Near Limit because it isn't red | Less than 10% headroom would remain — the next PO on that account is the one that gets blocked | Start the amendment conversation while it's still yellow |
Where to go next
- Budget Enforcement on POs — what happens at posting time.
- PO Budget Analysis — the same modal in its AP context.
- Budget Utilisation Reports — the ongoing view between purchases.
Frequently asked questions
No — it's a pure preview. Nothing commits until the PO posts. Two drafts checked in the same hour can both look "within budget"; whichever posts second faces the real check against what the first one committed.
Posting this PO would leave less than 10% of that account's effective budget. It's the "start the conversation now" signal — the next PO on that account is the one that gets blocked.
Anyone drafting the PO — budget figures are readable by all accounting roles precisely so the person spending can see the ceiling before they hit it.
It needs something to analyze: an Entity on the PO and at least one line with a GL Account. Fill those and the button wakes up — its tooltip ("Analyse budget availability for this Purchase Order") confirms you're in the right place.
No — it reads the lines as they sit on screen, unsaved edits included, and writes nothing anywhere. Close the modal and both the PO and the budget are exactly as they were. It's the rare tool that's entirely consequence-free.
The budget record itself is the standing answer — its lines carry live Available, Utilization and Is Over Budget figures recalculated with every posting (see Budget Utilisation Reports). The modal is those same numbers, pointed forward at one specific PO.
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