Skip to main content
Budget Rules let you express how a number should spread or derive instead of typing it cell by cell. Allocate a pool across departments, drive one account off another, or apply a percentage across periods, and the rule re-applies when its source changes so allocations stay consistent.

​
What Rules Can Do

  • Allocate a total across departments, accounts, or periods by weight or driver.
  • Derive one line from another (for example, a percentage of revenue or of headcount).
  • Spread an annual figure across months with a chosen shape.

​
How to Use It

1

Describe it

Define the target, the source, and the allocation logic. You can ask Nova to draft a rule from a plain-language description and refine it.
2

Preview

See exactly which cells the rule will write before you apply it, so nothing changes by surprise.
3

Apply

The rule populates the plan and re-applies when the source changes, so a derived line stays in step with what it depends on.

​
A Few Examples

​
Common Questions

The rule re-applies. If you budget an account as a percent of revenue and the revenue plan moves, the derived line moves with it the next time the rule runs.
The preview shows you exactly which cells the rule writes before you apply, so you can see whether it would touch a hand-entered cell and adjust the rule’s scope.
A seasonality curve shapes one expense line’s annual total across months. A budget rule is broader: it can allocate across departments and accounts, or derive one line from another, not just shape timing.
Yes. Budget Rules shape the plan; reforecast rules adjust the forward outlook mid-cycle. They serve different stages of the cycle.

​
If the Numbers Look Off

  • A derived line is stale: re-apply the rule so it re-reads its source, or re-run the forecast if the source is a derived universe.
  • An allocation does not sum to the pool: check the weights or driver. If a department has a zero driver value it receives nothing, which can leave a remainder.
  • A rule wrote cells you did not expect: revisit the target scope in the preview before applying; narrowing the dimension or period range fixes most surprises.