Digital Budget Books - Create a Digital Budget Book

Easily publish the Operational, Capital, and Personnel Budgets you created in the ClearGov budgeting modules through a Digital Budget Book document.

Creating a Digital Budget Book

From the Digital Budget Books module, select the +Create New Budget Book  button to begin your budget book journey!  

You will follow five easy steps: 

1. Select Fiscal Years and Template Type
2. Choose a Prior Budget Book (optional)
3. Connect Your Operating Budget
4. Add Your Capital Budget Projects (optional)
5. Add Your Personnel Budget information (optional)

Now select the Let's Get Started button to create your budget book document. 

Step 1: General Information: 

1. Choose Fiscal Year Start and Fiscal Year End. Note: This is informational only. The data source is controlled in Step 2.
2. Enter your Budget Book Name.
3. Select the Budget Type:
   • Annual Budget - Use if budgeting annually for a single year.
   • Biennial Budget - Use for budgeting across two years.
4. Choose the Template from which your budget book should be pulled:
   • GFOA - This customizable document template is designed around GFOA best practices and budget award criteria, enabling you to create high-quality, transparent, and engaging budget books while tailoring content to meet your unique needs.
   • ASBO - This template meets ASBO's Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) criteria with automated financial templates while allowing for personalization through added pages and customizations.
   • Basic template - A professional budget book with automated financials, debt reporting, and demographics integration. Includes essential budget reporting sections with flexibility to match your needs.
5. Select the Next: Prior Budget Book button. 

Step 2: Prior Budget Book (optional)

1. If you would like to carry forward a prior fiscal year’s Legacy Budget Book, toggle on the Include pages and content from a prior budget book option. 
2. Then select the Year of the prior budget book and the Budget Book from the dropdown menu.
3. Select the Next: Connect Budget Data button. 

Note: If you do not have a Legacy Budget Book, you can skip this step, and you can create a new book by Cloning and changing the Year in the Data Source Setting. 

Training article: Budget Book - Start your Next Fiscal Year

Step 3: Connect Budget Data

This step refers to the budget information you would like to use for this budget book. For example, if this is a budget book for FY25/26, the budget data year would be FY26. 

1. Select your Budget Data Year from the dropdown menu.
   • Note: If you are creating a biennial budget book, you will select data for both the initial year and the second year. Selecting a biennial Operational Budget for the initial year will require you to select the same budget for the second year.
2. Then choose a Data Source:
   • Client Onboarded Data - This is data that has been prepared and uploaded for you by the ClearGov data team.
   • Operational Budgeting Data - This is any information that has been created through the Operational Budgeting module.
3. Choose the Version of your data you wish to display. Note: If you choose the Most Recent version your book will automatically update anytime you save a new version in your Operational Budgeting module.
4. Select the Next: Capital Budget Data button to move on to Step 4. 

Step 4: Capital Budget Data (Optional) 

If you want to include Capital Budget requests, toggle on Include Capital Budget Data in this Budget Book. Then select the Next: Personnel Data button. 

Regardless of whether you have the ClearGov Capital Budgeting module, ClearGov will create a few templated CIP pages. Note: These templated pages will be static pages since there is no dynamic connection between the capital budget module.  

Step 5: Personnel Budget Data (Optional) 

 If you want to include Personnel Budget FTE counts, staff history, and position summaries, select the table created in the Position Count Tool. Then, select the Create New Budget Book button.

Connecting a Position Count table will automatically populate your Executive Summary and Department Pages.

Note: A Position Count table must be created in the Position Count Tool prior to connecting Personnel Budget data during the Digital Budget Book set up. 

Additional Resources 

• Learn more about creating your budget book in the Support & Training articles: Getting Started section.
• Learn more about customizing your budget book in the Support & Training articles: Configure & Customize section.
• Learn more about publishing your budget book in the Support & Training articles: Publish section.