> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lynkacrm.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create and review budgets

> Use Accounting budgets as planning targets, compare them with actual ledger results, and avoid confusing a budget with a posted accounting transaction.

Budgets are planning records. They express what you expect or intend to spend or earn, while the ledger records what actually happened.

Accounting exposes **Budgets** in the Ledger group for users with the required financial access.

## Budget structure

The backend contains budgets and budget lines so a budget can be broken into account or category-level planning amounts.

## Budget versus actual

A budget should never change the Trial Balance simply because it was entered. Actual results come from posted journals and source transactions.

Use budget comparison to understand variance, not to force the ledger toward the plan.

## Good budget hygiene

Choose a clear period, use account categories that match the chart of accounts, and document assumptions that another owner or finance user can understand later.

When the business model changes, update the future plan rather than rewriting historical actuals.

## Related articles

* [Financial reports](/product/accounting/financial-reports)
* [Chart of accounts](/product/accounting/chart-of-accounts)