Budget Book

Budget Book Overview:

For school districts that need to prepare a public-facing Budget Book, Allovue’s Budget Book Builder provides a GFOA/ASBO-aligned customizable template. Allovue’s Budget Book Creator allows users to gather data already present in Allovue’s tools to create a public-facing documentation. Data can also be customized by the school or district. The Budget Book creator supports uploads of JPEGSs, PDFs, and CSV uploads to tables.

How to access Budget Book

From the Navigation page, select Budget.
Select All Budgets.
From the Budget Book in the Navigation, select Setup.
Select Create Budget Book.

The setup can only be accessed from the All Budgets Tab. You will need to select Setup each time you create a new Budget Book .

Setup Budget Book

Review the welcome page and select Next to configure your Budget Book
Enter Your District in the text box.
1. This will be the title of your budget book. Max of 75 Characters.
Enter the Fiscal Year Format in the text box.
1. This is how the fiscal year will be displayed on the cover page of your Budget Book
Select Next
Review the content about Chapters and Sections and select Next.
Review the content about Organizations and select Next.
Review the content about the Budget Book Builder and select Next.
Review the confirmation message and select Go to Budget Book.

Once your budget book is created, the following menu options appear from the Budget Book Tab:

Config
Builder
Preview

Budget Book Title Page

To edit the title page of your budget book, use the following steps:

From the Navigation page, select Budget.
Select All Budgets.
From the Budget Book in the Navigation, select Config.

The Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) issues a checklist annually for school districts interested in applying for the Meritorious Budget Award program. Please reference ASBO for up to date requirements for creating an effective budget book. The 2025-2026 checklist can be found here.

From the Config menu, users can modify fields that appear on the title page of their Budget Book. The following fields are available for editing when selecting ‘Config’ from the Budget Book Menu.

Field Name	Details
District name	Open text field, max length 75 characters.
Fiscal year format	Open text field; max 50 characters.
Budget book title	Official title for the budget book, max length 100 characters
City/ County	City or country where the district is located, max 100 characters.
State/ Providence	Abbreviation or full name where the district is located, max 50 characters.
Zip Code	Post/zip code for the district. Max length 20 characters.
District website	Must be a valid URL format. Max length 255 characters
Prepared by	Department that the document was prepared by (ex: Business Services, Accounting). Max 50 characters.
Add Custom HTML	Add custom JavaScript for analytics, cookie notices, or other functionality. Script tags will be added automatically if not included.
Organizations	Select from the existing organizations in your Allovue account.

Edit Content in your Budget Book:

To edit the content of your of your Budget Book, use the Builder tab visit the Budget Index Page.

From the Navigation page, select Budget.
Select All Budgets.
From the Budget Book in the Navigation, select Builder.

The Builder icon will only appear once you have completed the setup option

From the Budget Book Index/ Builder page, you can edit Chapters and Sections of your Budget Book. Each Budget book is made up of chapters and sections, similar to a table of contents in a traditional book. Chapters serve as the main divisions, and each one contains multiple sections where you can add content.

Chapters

Chapters serve as the main dividers for each area of the budget book. Chapters can be added, deleted, or modified in the Builder. You can also reorganize the chapters by selected the chapter name and dragging the content to the desired location. Use the pencil icon to edit the title of a chapter and the trash can icon to delete a chapter from your Budget book.

Sections

Sections serve as the main content blocks in each chapter. To edit the content in each section, use the steps below.

From the Navigation page, select Budget.
Select All Budgets.
From the Budget Book in the Navigation, select Builder.
Select Go To Editor.
Once in the editor, choose the section that you would like to edit and select +Add Content Block.
Select Save to save your content.

Each Content Block supports the following types of content:

Text
Image
CSV
PDF
All Funds Table
Expenditure by Segment
Schools
Departments.

Budget Book Sections

These sections are pre-populated sections in all Budget Books to meet the ASBO requirements for a Budget Book.

Executive summary header

The executive summary contains the following sections:

Budget Message
Budget Calendar
Expenditure by Segment
All funds, Salaries, and benefits

Section	Details	Sourced
Budget Message	An introductory letter (often from the superintendent or CFO) outlining the budget’s vision, priorities, and highlights for the year. Sets the tone for the entire document and communicates key initiatives, challenges, and opportunities.	Narrative sections are authored by district staff within the editor and are not automatically sourced from product data.
Budget Calendar	A timeline of important budget-related dates, such as proposal deadlines, public hearings, board meetings, and adoption milestones. Helps stakeholders understand the process and key decision points.	A Budget calendar may be uploaded by the district. Support JPEG and PDF uploads.
Expenditure by Segment	Summarizes spending across key categories (e.g., by fund, function, or program). Presents a high-level view of how resources are allocated.	Pulls current and historical expenditure data from Allovue’s budgeting system, segmented by fund, function, or program codes.
All Funds, Salaries, Benefits	Details district-wide salary and benefits expenditures, often broken down by fund or department. This provides transparency into the largest areas of spending.	Salary and benefit totals and breakdowns from Allovue’s database.

Organization header

The Organizational header contains the following sections:

Strategic Investment Summary
Organization Chart
School Board Zone Map

Section	Details	Sourced
Strategic Investment Summary	Explains how the budget aligns with district strategic goals, highlighting targeted investments in programs, staff, or technology that support long-term objectives.	Narrative sections are authored by district staff within the editor and are not automatically sourced from product data.
Organization Chart	Visual representation of the district’s leadership and administrative structure, making it clear how departments and roles are organized.	Organizational charts may be uploaded by the district or created externally. Supports JPEG and PDF uploads.
School Board Zone Map	A map showing the zones or districts served by each school board member, helping the community visualize representation and governance.	Maps may be uploaded by the district or created externally. Supports JPEG and PDF uploads.

Financial Header

The financial header contains the following sections:

Historical Expenditure by Segment
Three Year Forecast
Departments
Schools

Section	Details	Sourced
Historical Expenditure by Segment	Provides multi-year data on spending patterns, allowing trends and changes to be easily analyzed (e.g., by fund, department, or program).	Uses past years’ actuals and current year budgets from Allovue’s database.
Three Year Forecast	Projects revenues and expenditures for the current and upcoming two fiscal years, giving insight into financial sustainability and long-term planning.	Three year forecasts may be uploaded by the district or created externally. Supports JPEG and PDF uploads.
Departments	Breaks down the budget by central office or district departments (e.g., Curriculum, Transportation, IT), detailing each department’s budget and priorities.	Department- and school-level budget and expenditure data are programmatically pulled from the system.
Schools	Presents financial data at the individual school level, enabling stakeholders to see resources allocated to each campus.	Department- and school-level budget and expenditure data are programmatically pulled from the system.

Information Header.

The information header contains the following sections.

Student Enrollment History
Debt Services Schedule
Property Tax Values
Glossary

Section	Details	Sourced
Student Enrollment Summary	Shows historical and current student enrollment figures, often used to explain funding trends and resource needs.	Narrative sections are authored by district staff within the editor and are not automatically sourced from product data. Enrollment figures are sourced from the district’s student information system and imported to Allovue.
Debt Services Schedules	Details the district’s outstanding debts, repayment schedules, and related obligations, ensuring transparency around long-term liabilities.	Narrative sections are authored by district staff within the editor and are not automatically sourced from product data.
Property Tax Values	Provides context on the local property tax base, which often funds a significant portion of the budget. May include recent trends or changes in assessed values.	Narrative sections are authored by district staff within the editor and are not automatically sourced from product data.
Glossary	Defines key budgetary and financial terms used throughout the document, making the Budget Book accessible to a broad audience.	Narrative sections are authored by district staff within the editor and are not automatically sourced from product data.

Download Budget Book

From the Navigation page, select Budget.
Select All Budgets.
From Budget Book in the Navigation, select Budget Book Creator.
Select Download.
A copy of the Budget Book will be emailed to the email address associated with your account.

The Budget Book Creator can only be accessed from the All Budgets Tab.