Online definition of a budget control is performed on the Budget Control Administration (BCADM) configuration page. Changes to the delivered records can be done and tracked as a modification to delivered data for future upgrades to re-apply. New records can also be added to meet any controlling needs.
Control ID - The required unique number assigned to a control for identification.
Control Name - The required short descriptive name used in conjunction with the ID when viewing control records.
Control Description - The required full description of a control to explain in accounting and budgeting terms how a control functions.
Control Formula - The required descriptive field to explain a control with budget amount names, operands, and amounts.
Formula Type - Controls are either one of two types: Constraint or Guideline. Constraints are always fired when a budget line is updated, which means that a constraint error can be issued on an accounting or a budgeting transaction. Guidelines are only fired when a budget transaction updates a budget line.
Expense/Revenue - A single control never applies to all types of budgets. Most controls are for regulating either an expense budget or a revenue budget. A small number of controls will actually apply to a third type of budget - both expense and revenue budgets. This required setting for a budget control enables the system to only evaluate controls that should apply to a type of structure.
Left Hand Side (LHS) - The required left hand side of a budget control's formula defined by using reverse Polish notation. Budget amount fields are denoted by their ID values with a 'B' preceding that ID. Other values such as numbers and operands (+, -, *, /) can also be used to define the LHS of a formula. When < or > is used, the budget control is an 'advanced control'.
Right Hand Side (RHS) - The required right hand side of a budget control's formula defined by using Reverse Polish Notation. Budget amount fields are denoted by their ID values with a 'B' preceding that ID. Other values such as numbers and operands (+, -, *, /) can also be used to define the RHS of a formula. When < or > is used, the budget control is an 'advanced control'.
Operator - A required choice of greater than (>), greater than or equal to (>=), less than (>), less than or equal to (>=), equal to (=), and not equal to (<>) are used to compare the LHS and RHS values.
Bucket Triggers - When an update is made by a line on an accounting or budgeting transaction, not every bucket is changed on a budget line. When evaluating controls, the system will fire all controls that are applicable to a budget line. However, it will only issue errors for controls that had one or more of their Budget Triggers changed. When a budget bucket ID is used in either the LHS or RHS fields, it is to be listed again in the Budget Triggers field, but without the 'B' in front of the ID. Multiple values are separated by commas. This is a required field and must match the LHS and RHS for all budget amounts
Error Code - Each budget control has to point to one error message. The ID for that error message is defined as the Code on the Messages (MESG) reference page. Budget control error messages do not use the Severity Field on the Messages page, but rather severity is set online within one or more budget control configuration locations. However, the Severity Field on Messages should be set to Error for budget control messages. The Override Level field on the Messages record should be the appropriate value between 1 and 10. If set to 0, the message cannot be overridden even given that the severity level is chosen on a budget control configuration. Any custom error messages should begin with the letter 'W' to differentiate them from delivered messages and ensure that the data is not overlaid with data from an upgrade that may have created a new error message with the same ID.
Advanced Budget Control - When a budget control uses the < or > within a LHS or RHS value, the control cannot be tracked the same way as others. Such controls are marked as an Advance Budget Control so that the system can handle them correctly.