Before you begin, make sure you:
Have Group Classes already created (e.g., regional classifications like US, UK, AU, CA)
Have your Group Reporting Templates (GRT) set up for budget structure alignment
Confirm you have the appropriate permissions to create Group Class-based budgets
Review your organisational structure and budget accountability requirements
Understanding Group Class budgeting
Group Class budgeting enables you to create targeted financial plans for specific business segments, regions, or departments within your group structure. This powerful approach aligns budget responsibility with operational accountability, ensuring that regional heads and department managers can plan and control their specific areas whilst maintaining overall group coordination.
Common Group Class budgeting applications:
Regional Budgeting: US, UK, Australia, and Canada operations with dedicated regional heads
Department Budgeting: Sales, Marketing, Operations, and R&D departmental planning
Business Unit Budgeting: Product lines or service divisions with dedicated management
Customer Segment Budgeting: Enterprise, SMB, and consumer market planning
Project Budgeting: Strategic initiatives or capital projects with dedicated ownership
Step 1: Access Group Budget management
From your GATHER.nexus dashboard, navigate to the Group Financial Planning section. Click on Group Budget to access the budget creation tools.
You'll use the same budget creation interface, but with Group Class functionality enabled.
Step 2: Initiate Group Class budget creation
Click the Add Budget button to begin creating your Group Class-specific budget.
The Add New Budget modal window will appear with all budget configuration options, including the Group Class settings.
Step 3: Configure basic budget information
Complete the fundamental budget configuration for your Group Class budget:
Budget Name: Enter a descriptive name that reflects the specific Group Class focus
Examples: "US Operations Budget 2025", "UK Regional Plan Q1", "Australia Market Budget"
Use naming conventions that clearly indicate the business segment and planning period
Group Selection: Choose the appropriate group that contains your target entities
Select the group that includes the legal entities for your specific region or department
Ensure all relevant entities for your Group Class are included in the selected group
GRT (Group Reporting Template): Select the reporting template for budget structure
Choose templates that align with your Group Class reporting requirements
Ensure consistency between Group Class budgets and overall group reporting
Configure the timing and formatting parameters for your budget planning:
Budget Year: Set the financial year for your budget (e.g., "2025")
Align with your organisation's financial year calendar
Consider multi-year planning if creating strategic budgets
Ensure consistency with your Group's financial period configuration
Budget Period: Select your budgeting frequency from available options:
Monthly: Detailed month-by-month planning for operational control
Quarterly: Quarterly planning for management reporting
Semi-Annually: Six-month planning cycles for mid-term reviews
Annually: High-level annual planning for strategic overview
Amount Format: Choose your display format for budget presentations:
Actual: Full currency amounts for detailed planning
Thousands (K): Simplified presentation for management review
Millions (M): Simplified presentation for management review
Billions (B): Simplified presentation for management review
Step 4: Enable and configure Group Class functionality
Step 4.1: Enable Group Class budgeting
Group Class Toggle: Enable Group Class functionality using the toggle switch
Click to activate Group Class-based budgeting capabilities
Step 4.2: Select your specific Group Class
Group Class Selection: Choose the specific Group Class for this budget
Regional Examples: Select from classifications like "US", "UK", "AU", or "CA"
Departmental Examples: Choose from "Sales", "Marketing", "Operations", or "R&D"
Business Unit Examples: Select "Software Products", "Professional Services", or "Hardware Division"
💡Tip: The Group Class selection determines which entities and data will be included in this specific budget, enabling targeted planning for regional heads and department managers. Also you can select one Group Class at a time
Step 5: Save your Group Class budget
Click Add to create your Group Class-specific budget, making it available for targeted budget entry and management.
Managing Group Class budgets effectively
Department budget management example
Sales Department: Creates targeted sales budget with revenue forecasts by region
Marketing Department: Develops marketing spend budget allocated across Headcount and 3rd party agency spend
Operations Department: Plans operational cost budgets by department (eg HR, Finance, Legal, Property Management)
R&D Department: Manages research and development investment budgets for innovation
Benefits of Group Class budgeting
Organisational advantages:
Distributed Ownership: Regional heads and department managers own their specific budget areas
Improved Accuracy: Local expertise improves budget accuracy for specific business segments
Enhanced Accountability: Clear responsibility alignment between budget and operational management
Strategic Coordination: Maintain group coordination while enabling local decision-making
Management benefits:
Focused Planning: Enable targeted planning that reflects actual business management structure
Performance Tracking: Monitor regional and departmental performance against specific targets
Resource Allocation: Optimise resource allocation based on regional or departmental priorities
Strategic Insights: Gain visibility into performance drivers across different business dimensions
Common questions
Q: Can one person manage budgets for multiple Group Classes?
A: Yes, users can create and manage multiple Group Class budgets if they have responsibility for multiple regions or departments.
Q: How do Group Class budgets affect overall group reporting?
A: Group Class budgets integrate into overall group reporting, enabling both detailed segment analysis and consolidated group performance tracking.
Q: Can I copy a Group Class budget structure to other regions?
A: Yes, use the copy function to duplicate successful budget structures across different Group Classes, then customise for specific regional or departmental requirements.
Q: What happens if I change Group Class assignments after creating budgets?
A: Changing Group Class assignments may affect budget scope. Consider creating new budgets rather than modifying existing Group Class configurations.
What's next?
With your Group Class budgets established, you can:
Empower regional heads to manage their specific area budgets with appropriate accountability
Generate targeted reports showing budget vs. actual performance by business segment
Coordinate planning across regions while maintaining local ownership and responsibility
Establish review cycles with regional and departmental managers for ongoing performance management
Scale budget management as your organisation grows and adds new regions or departments
Your Group Class budgeting system now enables financial planning that aligns budget responsibility with operational management whilst maintaining strategic group oversight.
Have questions or need assistance❓
Contact our support team at support@gather.nexus