jbh001 wrote:My expectation is that the first screen shot would show (somehow) that Primary had used 150% of its budget allocation. The second screen shot does a better job of communicating this.
But this works sufficiently well as it. The last time I poked around in MLS trying to figure this out was at least a year or two ago (I think). And I don't recall being able to get the results that appear in the second screen shot.
It's a little more clear if only the "leaf" categories have budget allocations. In your example, instead of allocating $100 to the Primary parent category, your allocations would be split up between the Cub Scout sub-subcategory and an additional "Primary remainder" sub-subcategory under Primary. This has two benefits - each sub-organization (such as the Cub Scouts) has their own budget (as Greggo has suggested) and can track them individually, and it avoids the confusion on the MLS screen where the "Primary" main category seems to be under budget, when it really is not.
I make it a point also always write checks from the "leaf" categories as well. If I mess that up, it's easy to see on the Budget screen as a debit to a category with no budget allocated.
As an aside, I've already found it helpful to have multiple of these sub-subcategories when planning budgets for next year. Under "Primary" we have these categories alone:
Achievement Day
Baptism Seminar
Music
Nursery
Quarterly Activity
Teacher Supplies
Cub Scouts
