Budget Management

Track project costs against estimates.

Project Budgets

Each project can have a budget that tracks:

• Original Budget - Initial estimate
• Change Orders - Approved modifications
• Current Budget - Original + changes
• Actual Costs - What's been spent
• Remaining - Budget minus actual

Setting Up a Budget

Open Project

Navigate to your project.

Go to Budget Tab

Click Budget in the project tabs.

Enter Budget Amount

For simple budgets:

• Enter total budget amount
• Save

Or Create Line Items

For detailed tracking:

1. Click Add Budget Item
2. Enter category and amount
3. Repeat for each category
4. Total calculates automatically

Budget Categories

Common categories:

Tracking Actual Costs

From Invoices

Link incoming invoices to project:

• Invoice amount adds to actual costs
• Assigned to categories automatically
• Running total updates

Manual Entry

Add costs not from invoices:

1. Click Add Expense
2. Enter description and amount
3. Select category
4. Save

From Timesheets

If tracking labor:

• Crew hours × rates = labor costs
• Auto-calculated from time entries

Budget vs. Actual Report

See how you're doing:

Category        Budget    Actual    Remaining   %Used
Materials       $20,000   $18,500   $1,500      93%
Labor           $15,000   $12,000   $3,000      80%
Subcontractors  $10,000   $11,500   -$1,500     115% ⚠️
Equipment       $3,000    $2,200    $800        73%
------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL           $48,000   $44,200   $3,800      92%

Change Orders

When scope changes affect budget:

1. Create change order
2. Specify cost impact
3. Get approval
4. Budget adjusts automatically

Budget Flow

Original Budget: $45,000
+ Approved Change Orders: $5,000
= Current Budget: $50,000

Budget Alerts

Get notified when:

• Category exceeds threshold (e.g., 80%)
• Total budget exceeded
• Large single expense
• Projected overrun

Configure in project settings.

Forecasting

Projected Final Cost

Based on current spending:

• What you've spent
• What's committed (open POs)
• Estimated remaining work

Early Warning

System calculates:

• If on track to finish within budget
• Projected overrun amount
• Categories at risk

Multi-Project View

Compare budgets across projects:

Identify which projects need attention.

Reports

Budget Summary

Overview of all budgets:

• By project
• By category
• By time period

Variance Report

Show differences:

• Budget vs. actual
• Favorable vs. unfavorable
• Explanations

Cost Detail

Line-by-line breakdown:

• Every expense
• When incurred
• Category assigned

Best Practices

Set Realistic Budgets

Include:

• Contingency (10-15%)
• Known risks
• Realistic labor estimates

Track Early and Often

• Enter expenses promptly
• Review weekly
• Catch issues early

Don't Ignore Overruns

When over budget:

• Understand why
• Communicate to client if needed
• Adjust approach

Learn from History

After projects close:

• Compare estimate to actual
• Identify patterns
• Improve future estimates

Next Steps

• Change Orders - Handle scope changes
• Cash Flow - Track money movement
• Quotes - Create accurate estimates