Navigating the Visual Budget

Drop Down Menus & Functions

• Select the Filtered By option to view the data filters. These filters will allow you select exactly which data you want to include, or exclude, from your graph or chart.
• Use the Broken Down By drop-down menu to specify the category you would like the data organized by in your chart or graph.
• Use the Search function within each filter to find exactly what you are looking for. You can use the Show drop down menu to see the data that is of most interest to you.

There are five different types of visual representations of the data:

• A bar chart comparing trends and percentage breakdowns over time.
• A line graph overlaying each trend over time.
• A pie chart to view percentage breakdowns by year.
• A stacked line graph to visualize overall trends over time.
• A stacked percentage graph to see percentage changes over time.

Below any chart or graph, you can view a Table detailing the financial information in the visualization above.

Use the Help drop-down in the top right corner to:

• Contact the administrators of the account.
• Recall the Welcome Screen.
• View a short Budget 101 primer with basic information on multi-fund accounting.
• View a short How-To Guide with tips on navigating the platform.

Use the Share drop-down in the top right corner to:

• Send a link to your customized graph or chart through email.
• Share your customized graph or chart through social media.

Use the Download drop-down in the top right corner to:

• Download an image of the graph or table as a .png file.
• Download a spreadsheet as a .csv file.

Visual Budget is a financial transparency website which displays government finances over a multi-year period. The default view usually displays expenses broken down by department.

To focus on specific data — like a fund, department, expense type, or any combination — use the menu on the left side panel. The Broken Down By drop-down allows you to specify which breakdown you want the graphs and table rows to represent on the graph. You can analyze the expense and revenues data by fund, department, or type.

Yes. Use the Data Filter on the left side panel to make specific selections within the data. The Data Filter shows you the hierarchical relationships of Funds, Departments, and Account Types. You'll notice the title of the graph you are viewing on top along with the account type selector. You can use the filter to see the data of most interest to you.

Hover over any area of the graph to see the actual or budgeted amounts for that period. Or just scroll down to see a table with detailed information.

In the upper right hand corner, you will see options for the different graphs and tables. There are 5 graph types overall: an area graph, an area graph by percentage, a line graph, a pie graph, and a bar chart. There is also always a table view below any chart or graph. The table allows you to zoom in on the detailed financial data selected in the chart or graph above.

In reviewing multiple years of data, you may see "spikes" in the individual years; this can be due to unexpected expenses, such as a hard winter, equipment failure, a capital project, or a specific event that required additional funds. You can drill down into our Visual Budget site to learn more about what exactly those expense or revenues are categorized.

Yes, there are Share and Download buttons in the upper right corner. You can share any view on a social network or by email. There are also options to download the displayed data in .csv spreadsheet and .png image formats.

Use the Help menu on the top right corner to navigate to the Budget 101 primer to learn more about multi-fund accounting.

Use the Help menu on the top right corner to navigate to the Contact option to send your message to your organization.