---
title: "Budgets, GL codes and cost centers"
description: "Create a budget with a forecast and on-pace band, and assign GL codes and cost centers to services so your spend allocates cleanly. Admin-only and plan-gated."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.vigilis.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Budgets, GL codes and cost centers

Budgets, GL codes, and cost centers are how you plan spend and allocate it to the right places in your books. Budgets and the GL / Cost Center report live in the Reports section, so availability depends on your plan and requires an admin role. Depending on your plan and role you may not see them; if so, ask your provider.

## Creating a budget

Open **Budgets** in the Reports section and choose **Create Budget**. A budget captures:

- **Name** and **budget amount.**
- **Fiscal year**, so pacing lines up with your financial calendar rather than the plain calendar year.
- An optional **category**, to budget a single service category instead of everything.
- A **period**: annual, monthly, or quarterly.
- **Notes** for context.

Once saved, the budget report compares actual spend to your budget with a straight-line forecast and an on-pace band, so you can see at a glance whether you are tracking on pace or over pace. The comparison is aware of your fiscal year.

## Assigning GL codes and cost centers

GL codes and cost centers are assigned at the **service** level. There is no separate GL or cost-center admin screen; you set them where the service lives. Three ways to do it:

- On a service's **Billing tab**, one service at a time.
- Through the **Billing columns on the Services list**, handy for editing several services in a row.
- Via the **GL code and cost center columns in a CSV import**, best for setting many at once.

## The Unmapped row

The **GL / Cost Center** report groups spend by GL code and cost center. Any service that has neither set rolls into a single **Unmapped** row. Totals still reconcile, and the Unmapped figure tells you how much spend is not yet coded, so you know how much cleanup is left. This report needs the cost-centers plan feature; if you do not see it, ask your provider.

## Related

- [The Reports Hub](/reports/reports-hub/) for the full report catalog.
- [Financial reports](/reports/financial-reports/) for spend and cost-allocation reporting.
- [Inventory and invoice reports](/reports/inventory-and-invoice-reports/) for lifecycle and missing-invoice reporting.

## Common questions

**How do I create a budget?**

In the Reports section, open Budgets and choose Create Budget. Give it a name, amount, and fiscal year, and optionally a category, a period, and notes.

**Where do I assign GL codes and cost centers?**

At the service level: a service's Billing tab, the Billing columns on the Services list, or the GL code and cost center columns in a CSV import. There is no separate admin screen.

**What is the Unmapped row in the GL and Cost Center report?**

Services with no GL code or cost center set roll into a single Unmapped row, so totals still reconcile while you see how much spend is not yet coded.

Source: https://support.vigilis.io/reports/budgets-gl-and-cost-centers/index.mdx