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Goalpost Budget​

The Goalpost Budget — a quick, back-of-the-napkin budget topsheet designed for pitching and fast presentations.

The Budget Builder for Goalpost budgets, starts after selecting the Goalpost Budget type from the Budget Setup screen.

Chart of Accounts (COA)​

The first screen is the Chart of Accounts (COA). Here, you select your budget accounting structure, including the list of accounts, account numbering format, and other criteria.

Goalpost - Chart of Accounts

Line Budgeter provides a library of COAs to choose from, including:

  • Curated — A set of COAs for the most common project types, curated by the Line team.
  • Studios — An ever-growing list of COAs from both major and independent production studios.
  • Project Type Specific — Options for Films, Episodic, Incentive-based projects, Live Events, Video Games, Corporate Media, and Special/Unique COAs.
  • My COAs — Save and customize COAs to reuse in your own projects.

In the Preview panel (center of the screen), you can:

  • Include or exclude departments

In the Settings panel, you can:

  • Adjust account numbers

Note: A COA is a required selection.

Once you’ve chosen and configured your COA, click Next to continue.

Assumptions​

The second screen is Assumptions. Here, you enter budget assumptions used with your selected Chart of Accounts (COA) to build the Goalpost budget.

Goalpost – Assumptions

Settings​

These settings drive the monetary values in the budget.

SettingDescription
Base AmountThe total amount used as the foundation for the Goalpost budget.
CurrencyThe currency applied to the Goalpost budget, selected from real-world currencies.
Local Spend AmountThe portion of the Base Amount estimated to qualify as local spend and be eligible for tax incentives.
Incentive on Local SpendThe tax incentive percentage applied to the Local Spend Amount.
Incentive TotalDisplays the calculated incentive based on the Local Spend Amount and the incentive percentage.
Include IncentiveDetermines whether the incentive is treated as part of the budget spend (Yes) or returned to the studio/financiers (No).

Budget Allocation​

In this section, you can manually adjust the percentage allocated to each department to control how funds are distributed.

  • Modify a department’s percentage to change its allocation.
  • Totals update automatically as percentages are adjusted.
  • Department percentages within the COA must total 100%.

When you’re ready, click Build to create your Goalpost Budget topsheet.

Goalpost Budget Topsheet​

The Goalpost budget topsheet is similar to other budget types but is intentionally more streamlined and designed for quick estimating.

Editing on the topsheet is limited to the following fields:

  • Account number
  • Account name
  • Total

You can also create new accounts as needed.

For this budget type, the sidebar, calendar, element manager, worksheet, and other advanced Line Budgeter features are disabled to maintain a focused, lightweight workflow.

You can still access Reports to print your Goalpost budget.