Budgets in Charisma ERP — how to build and monitor the annual budget (2026)
Charisma budget module: types (operational, CAPEX, cash-flow), cost center setup, budget vs. actual comparison, deviation alerts. Practical guide.
Bogdan Minoiu — Founder Azuvio · 2026-06-10 · 7 min · ERP & Operations
Budget types in Charisma
1. Operational budget (P&L) — income + expenses per account, per cost center, per period (monthly/quarterly/annual)
2. CAPEX budget — planned investments (fixed asset acquisitions, upgrades)
3. Cash-flow budget — planned receipts + payments per period
4. Sales budget — by channels / customers / products
5. Project budget — for project-based companies (real-time vs. estimated)
Budget setup
Financial → Budgets → Add budget →
Type + name + year
Granularity (account, cost center, period)
Version (initial, revised Q1, revised Q2)
Approved by + approval date
Building values
Methods:
1. Manual — operator enters values per line
2. Copy previous year actuals +/- % — quick win for stable companies
3. Excel Import — for budgets built in spreadsheets (most common)
4. Top-down allocation — total amount allocated across cost centers by %
Monitoring budget vs. actuals
Financial → Budgets → Budget vs. Actual Report — monthly/cumulative comparison highlighting deviations in % and absolute value.
Automatic alerts:
Account exceeded by >10% of monthly budget
Annual cumulative exceeds 95% of budget
Unexpected expenses on unallocated accounts
Charisma limitations
1. Budget versioning — basic. For companies with 3+ revised versions/year, it becomes cumbersome.
2. Driver-based budgeting (budget calculated based on drivers: sales figure × % cost) — limited functionality.
3. Rolling forecast (12-month rolling forecast, recalculated monthly) — requires customization.
4. What-if scenarios — poorly supported.
Smart Layer for advanced budgeting
The Azuvio Smart Layer can add:
Driver-based budgeting with complex formulas
Automated monthly rolling forecasts
What-if scenarios (base / optimistic / pessimistic) with P&L impact
CFO Dashboard with live budget KPIs and departmental drill-down
Conclusion
Charisma budgets cover classic annual budgeting well. For companies with advanced financial discipline (rolling forecasts, scenarios), the Smart Layer complements the setup with modern tools — without changing the ERP.