Budgets and forecasts are very useful planning tools, but reality doesn't always stick so neatly to plans. Even our best intentions can go astray – but that doesn't mean we are powerless to change things. With the ability to compare actuals in the P&L and Balance Sheet to forecasts and budgets in graphical form, you can quickly see where you've gone off track and find a way to course-correct before too much damage is done.

You can now compare budget and forecast data with accounts, groups, and totals in your Account graphs to see your actual performance compared to what you expected it to look like. You are then empowered to make plans to adjust your business to improve outcomes and keep it on track.

When you navigate to Visualize –> KPIs & Accounts –> Accounts, you will see that there's a new "Compare" button. If you click on it, you can choose between "vs. Budget" and "vs. Forecast." This functionality is available for the following graph types:

Use the "Compare" button to select between budget and forecast. Click on “Graph data” to select accounts and number of periods.

You can select accounts by category on the horizontal bar, normalized stacked horizontal bar, and donut charts. Simply choose the categories you want to see, and the top accounts for those categories will be auto-selected.

In addition, you can opt to see the top 5, 10, 15, or 20 accounts.

You've likely spent a lot of time planning for the future with forecasts and budgets. However, these need to be considered regularly and compared to actuals so you know whether your performance is going according to plan or whether you might need to make some changes.

The latest update to Syft's Account graphs empowers you to compare actuals with budgets or forecasts to see how you are tracking according to your goals and expectations. I hope you will enjoy this change and use it to keep your business going in the right direction.