This article is for: finance teams and admins.
A budget sets how much a group of people can spend over a period, for example a team's travel for the quarter or the budget for an event. Expenses count against it as they come in, so you can see what's left and approvers know when an expense would go over, before they approve it.
Create a budget
Overview
A budget has an amount, a time frame and dates, and belongs to one legal entity, whose currency it uses. You choose its recipients (the employees who can charge expenses to it), who can see it (Viewers) and who can change it (Owners). You need the Create finance budgets or Manage finance budgets permission.
How to use
- In the sidebar, go to Spending > Employee expenses, then open the Budgets tab.
- Click Add budget.
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Basic information:
- Choose the Legal entity.
- Enter the Budget name and, if you like, a Budget description.
- Click Continue.
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Access:
- Choose the Owners (you're added by default) and the Viewers.
- Click Continue.
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Limits:
- Pick the Start date (and an optional End date).
- Pick the Time frame: No time frame, Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly.
- Enter the Limit and click Continue.
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Allocation:
- Choose the Distribution method: Equal allocation per employee or No allocation per employee.
- Click Select recipients, search or filter, tick people and click Apply selection.
- Click Submit. You'll see "Saved successfully" and the new budget opens.
Track expenses against a budget
- To let employees choose a budget, go to Settings > Expenses > Expense form and turn on the Budgets field. Make it Mandatory if every expense should go to a budget.
- To follow a budget, open it from the Budgets tab. Records shows the expenses charged to it; Employees shows the recipients.
Approvers see whether each expense is Within budget, at Budget risk or Over budget. Being over budget never blocks submitting or approving.
Tips and Best Practices
- Use clear names with the purpose and period, for example Sales travel Q1.
- Start with a few broad budgets, then add specific ones where you need more control.
- Ask your approval flow to send over-budget expenses to finance, so they're always reviewed. See How do I set up the approval flow?
- Related: How do I choose what the expense form asks for? · How do I set up the approval flow?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
An employee can't find the budget on their expense.
Employees only see, in the Budgets field, budgets they're a recipient of and that are active on the expense's Document date. Check that they're a recipient, that the Document date is between the budget's start and end dates, and that the Budgets field is turned on in Expense form.
I can't see a budget.
With Create finance budgets, you see the budgets you own, view or are a recipient of. With Manage finance budgets, you see and manage all of them.
The budget amount is in the wrong currency.
A budget uses the currency of its legal entity. Create it in the legal entity whose currency you need.
FAQ
1. Can I assign a budget to a team or a cost centre?
Budgets are assigned to people. To budget for a team or cost centre, select its members as recipients.
2. Can one employee be part of several budgets?
Yes. They choose which one on each expense.
3. What happens if an expense goes over the budget?
Approvers see it's Over budget and decide whether to approve it: being over budget is information for the approver and never blocks submitting or approving. The first time a budget goes over, its owners are notified.
4. If I change a budget, what happens to expenses already charged to it?
They stay charged to it, and its status (Within budget, Budget risk or Over budget) is worked out again against the new limit. Check the new figures in the budget's detail page.
5. What does Budget risk mean?
Budget risk means 90% or more of the budget is used, so less than 10% is left. Approvers see whether an expense is Within budget, at Budget risk or Over budget.
6. How is an expense in another currency counted against a budget?
Expenses in another currency are converted to the budget's currency using the exchange rate of the receipt (document) date.
7. What can budget owners do, and how is the amount split?
Owners can edit the budget's details, access, limits and employees; whoever creates the budget is added as an owner by default. With Equal allocation per employee, the amount is split equally between recipients; with No allocation per employee, nobody gets a personal amount: everyone draws on the same total.