Working with the Project Budget

You can see and access the project budget if you belong to the same organization and collaborative spaces as the project owner. Your role also determines the level of access.

When creating a budget, make sure that you have set the preferred currency. See Web App Preferences. You can only enter budget values in the preferred currency.

Before you begin: The project budget must exist. See Creating a Project Budget.
  1. On the Projects page, click the name of a project. See Projects Page. In the navigation pane, click Financials > Budget tab.

    A project can have only one budget. If the project does not have a budget, you can create one. See Creating a Project Budget.

  2. For an existing budget, you can view the following information:

    Item. The name of the budget. Also listed are any cost categories and cost items in the budget.

    Ledger A/C No. The ledger account number associated with the cost item.

    [Interval]. All-time intervals display for the budget, along with cost amounts.

    Total. The total cost of the budget appears on the top line. Each cost category (cost center) has its own total of all the costs in that category. Each cost item shows the total of all individual cost items.

    Variance. This column appears only in the Estimated and Actual views:

    In the Actual View:

    • Variance Amount = Actual cost minus Plan cost
    • Variance % = (Actual / Plan) X 100
    In the Estimated View:
    • Variance Amount = Actual cost minus Estimate cost
    • Variance % = (Actual / Estimate) X 100

  3. Use the filter to change the Currency for the amounts, the Interval for the budget display, and the View (Plan View to view basic plan information, Estimated View to enter estimates, and Actual View to view amounts).
  4. Enter amounts for cost items by clicking Enable Edit .
    Enter amounts as unformatted numbers. You can use a decimal point. Not allowed are commas or the $ symbol. For example, valid entries are 34500 or 345.00. Amounts must be in the preferred currency, as described in Web App Preferences. After the budget is frozen, you can edit amounts only in the "Estimated View" and "Actual View."
  5. To view the properties of the budget, click the name of the budget in the Item column. See Budget Plan Properties Page.
  6. Click an icon on the toolbar to perform an action:

    Add Cost Item . Adds a cost item (cost center). See Adding Cost Items. This option displays only if "Enforce Template" is FALSE for this project's template.

    Add Period . Adds a time period of the same interval defined for this budget. You can add the period at the start or end of the timeline. This option displays only if "Enforce Template" is FALSE for this project's template.

    Freeze Budget . Freezes the budget from any more entries. Once a budget is frozen, the "Estimated View" and "Actual View" become available by clicking . You cannot edit the Actual View after freezing.

    Delete Period . Visible only when a period exists, this deletes the selected period.

    Expense Report . Visible only after the budget is frozen, this lets you view the expense report. See Generating the Expense Report.

    Delete . Deletes the selected budget or cost items.

    Enable Edit . Modifies budget plan details for the selected budget name. See Editing Information for a Budget Plan. This option displays only if "Enforce Template" is FALSE for this project's template.