# Understand budgets

Compare monthly revenue and expense plans with posted activity and understand budget statuses.

Canonical: https://demo.qixcount.com/help/budgets-and-projects/budgets-overview

Who can do this: Owners, or people with *View budgets*

Where: Books, then Budgets

You'll need: Budgets turned on in Features

Budgets plan monthly amounts for active revenue and expense accounts. You can compare those plans with posted activity for the same fiscal periods. Saving or approving a budget does not post a journal entry.

If **Budgets** isn't in the sidebar, someone with settings access can turn on **Budgets** in [Features](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/setup/features-and-presets).

## Find your budgets

Open **Books**, then select **Budgets**. You need **View budgets** permission. Owners have all permissions; other team members need the permissions for each action they perform. Budgeting must also be enabled in the business's feature settings.

![Budget list with fiscal year and status filters](https://demo.qixcount.com/images/help/budgets-list.webp)

Use **Fiscal Year** and **Status**, then select **Filter** to narrow the list. The counts above the list reflect the filtered results. Select a budget name or **View** to open its comparison report. If the list is empty, check the filters before creating another budget.

## Understand the statuses

| Status | What QixCount allows |
| --- | --- |
| Draft | Amounts and notes can be edited with permission. The budget can be approved or deleted. |
| Approved | Amounts and notes are read-only. An approver can lock it or reopen it as a draft. It can still be deleted with permission. |
| Locked | The budget is read-only and cannot be deleted. An approver can unlock it, returning it to approved status. |

Creating, editing, approving and deleting have separate permissions. A budget's status controls its editability; approval does not freeze the actual activity shown in its report.

Start with [Create a budget](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/budgets-and-projects/create-a-budget), then [Compare a budget with actuals](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/budgets-and-projects/budget-vs-actual-and-insights). For changes after approval, see [Edit, approve or lock a budget](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/budgets-and-projects/edit-approve-or-lock-a-budget).