Financial Transparency

How to use the financial transparency tool

• Below any chart or graph, you can view a table detailing the financial information in the visualization above.
• The City's of Beaufort main fund is the General Fund. The General Fund includes all departments of the City:
  • City Council  
  • City Manager
  • Finance
  • Fire
  • Human Resources
  • Information Technology
  • Municipal Court
  • Community Development Services
  • Police
  • Public Works
  • Downtown Operations & Community Services
• The portal allows you to explore budget and historical finances in a simple graphical user interface. The main view includes a chart or graph, a legend and various controls to view expenses by departments and revenues by source.
• There are 5 different types of visual representations of the data. You can change your view at any time by simply selecting the different type of representation. The data will automatically convert. These 5 types are:
  • area graph
  • area graph by percentage
  • line graph
  • pie chart
  • table
• To focus on specific data, like a fund, function, expense type, or any combination, look to the left and use the menu on the side panel. These selectors allow you to specify exactly what breakdown you want the graph or table to represent. When you select "Filtered by," the data filter pops up and allows you to turn on or turn off selected filters for the category; fund, function, department, expense type, etc.
• Use the "Help" drop-down box in the top right corner to view a short How-To guide with tips on navigating the platform, recall the Welcome Screen, view a short Budget 101 primer with basic information on multi-fund accounting, or contact the administrator of the account.
• You can download the data into a .csv spreadsheet or a .png image.
• You can share the data, in any view, on a social network, or by email.
• You can use the filter to see the data that is of most interest to you.