Planning for a group of entities shouldn't mean building your budget twice. Once at the entity level, and then all over again by hand at the consolidated level — hoping the numbers still match by the time you're done. With consolidated budgets and forecasts now built directly into Build reports, that duplicate work disappears. Pull your plan straight from the underlying entities, see it roll up automatically at the group level, and know it'll always reflect what's really happening down in the business — because the moment an entity's numbers change, so does the group view. Less reconciling, more time actually thinking about where your business is headed.
Let’s dive into what this new feature looks like and why it’s beneficial for you and your group.
What's new
Previously, consolidating a budget or forecast meant recreating it by hand at the group level. Now, Build P&L, Build Balance Sheet, and Build Ledger can pull budget and forecast data straight from the entities underneath, and roll it up automatically. Just choose which entity budgets or forecasts should feed in, and Syft handles the aggregation.
Because the numbers are pulled from source rather than re-entered, whoever owns the entity-level plan maintains it once — and it flows up automatically. To keep that source of truth intact, any consolidated row built from an underlying entity's budget or forecast is read-only at the group level; edits happen where the data lives, in the entity itself.
Why it's great
Not sure what all the fuss is about? Let’s consider some of the benefits by taking J’s Cupcake Company as an example.
Meet J’s Cupcake Company – a thriving bakery and confectionary store, started by a young and passionate pastry chef called J. What started as one small bakery has grown into a handful of franchises across the country, all sitting under J's Cupcake Group as the overarching consolidation.
Each franchise builds its own budget — accounting for local ingredient costs, seasonal foot traffic, and its own hiring plans. Historically, someone at head office would then have to rebuild all of that into one group-level budget by hand, hoping nothing got lost along the way. Here's what changes now:
One plan, not two. Instead of recreating the group budget from scratch, J's Cupcake Group can pull it straight from each franchise's own budget. No more double data entry, no more chasing down whether the Acre Woods franchise remembered to send through their latest numbers.
Numbers you can trust. Because each consolidated row is read-only at the group level, no one at head office can accidentally overwrite what a franchise has budgeted. If the Arendelle franchise updates its plan, that's the only place it needs to be updated — the group view picks it up automatically.
Real group-level planning. J's Cupcake Group isn't just looking at combined actuals anymore — it has a genuine forward-looking view of the whole business, which is exactly what the board wants to see when deciding whether to open franchise number six.
Forecasts that don't go stale. If the Atlantica franchise is running a rolling forecast, those numbers keep flowing into the group view even as the forecast period rolls forward — so the group's plan doesn't develop blind spots over time.
Weekly-level detail, if you need it. Cupcakes are a seasonal business — Mother's Day and Valentine's week matter. Budget and forecast columns now support weekly configuration across Build P&L, BS, and Ledger, so J's Cupcake Group can see that granularity at the group level too, not just monthly.
Multi-currency, handled for you. If J's Cupcake Group ever expands into other countries, franchises budgeting in different currencies will still roll up cleanly into one reporting currency — no manual conversion required.
You're in control of what rolls up. Head office can choose exactly which franchises' budgets feed into the group view, and over what time period — perfect if a new franchise hasn't finished its first budget cycle yet and shouldn't be included.
How to set it up
Ready to give this new feature a whirl? Here’s how to get started:
Navigate to Build reports (P&L, Balance Sheet, or Ledger) inside a consolidation or segmented entity, click Add column, and go to the budget/forecast section.
Select the underlying entity budgets and forecasts that should feed the consolidated view.
Choose the time period and number of periods to display.
Remember: Any row pulled from an underlying entity's budget or forecast is read-only in the consolidated view — edit it at the entity level.
Closing thoughts
At the end of the day, your consolidated budget or forecast should tell you the same story your entities are already living — not a separate one you have to reconcile by hand. With Build reports now pulling straight from the source, that's exactly what you get: a group-level view that's always current, always accurate, and ready whenever you need to answer the question every leadership team asks — where are we headed?
Still using the legacy budget or forecast tool? Now is a great time to move over to the new tool. Check out our guide to migrating to the new feature to get started.