In Projects, budgets help you plan, monitor, and control financial performance depending on how a project is billed and delivered.

There are three budget types available:

1. No budget limit: Bill at standard hourly rates with no spending restrictions.
2. Fixed price: Change a flat rate, regardless of hours worked.
3. Time and materials: Set a maximum budget based on the expected hours and expenses.

You can select either the full project budget or the budget per phase. To ensure accurate metrics, only one budget type can be selected.

The budget for each phase is configured in the phase's Settings > Financial settings:

 

Time and materials budget

A Time and materials (T&M) project is billed based on tracked hours and rates. The budget evolves as work is logged, giving you real-time visibility into costs, billable amounts, and profitability.

How to configure a Time and materials budget

1. In your sidebar, go to Projects
2. Select a project
3. Within the project, access the Settings tab
4. Scroll down to the Financial details section
5. In budget type, choose Time and materials
6. Choose between Project budget or budget per phase
   • Project budget:
     • Set the estimated cost: it includes fixed costs, labor costs and spending for both employee expenses and purchase invoices
     • Set the fixed cost: indirect expenses essential for business operations, covering items like rent and administrative salaries
     • Set the estimated hours
     • Choose whether to set it as billable or not. If you set it as billable:
       • Set the estimated client budget: budget based on the expected hours and expenses. Include estimated expenses
7. Click on Save

Monitor budget based on tracked hours

In Time and materials projects, the budget is monitored based on:

• Tracked hours
• Cost rates and bill rates
• Fixed and variable costs

What you can track in Time and materials projects

Depending on your configuration, you can track:

• Financial details
  • Used vs client budget: Billable-to-date amount vs remaining
  • Cost to-date
  • Current profit
• Project status
  • Tracked hours
  • Completed tasks
• Progress breakdown
  Filter it by date and status
  • Hours evolution
    • Hours or cost progress
  • Distribution by
    • Person
    • Date
    • Hours or cost progress

Fixed price budget

A Fixed price project is billed for a pre-agreed amount, regardless of the number of hours worked. The focus is on tracking costs and profitability, not on billing based on time. In Fixed price projects, Factorial helps you understand whether the project is profitable compared to the agreed income.

How Fixed price budgets work

In a Fixed price project:

• Income is defined upfront (flat fee)
• Costs increase as work is delivered
• Profit is calculated as:
  • Income − Total cost

How to configure a Fixed price budget

1. In your sidebar, go to Projects
2. Select a project
3. Within the project, access the Settings tab
4. Scroll down to the Financial details section
5. In budget type, choose Fixed price
6. Choose between Project budget or budget per phase
   • Project budget:
     • Set the estimated client budget: it includes fixed costs, labor costs and spending for both employee expenses and purchase invoices. Include fixed costs
     • Set the fixed cost: indirect expenses essential for business operations, covering items like rent and administrative salaries
     • Choose whether to set it as billable or not. If you set it as billable:
       • Set an income: the amount of money you are expecting to charge to your client
7. Click on Save

What you can track in Fixed price projects

In the project overview, you can monitor:

• Financial details
  • Cost to-date vs planned cost
  • Current vs estimated profit
• Project status
  • Tracked hours
  • Completed tasks
• Progress breakdown
  Filter it by date and status
  • Hours evolution
    • Hours or cost progress
  • Distribution by
    • Person
    • Date
    • Hours or cost progress

This gives you a clear picture of whether the project is:

• On budget
• At risk
• Or already unprofitable

No budget limit

A No budget limit project lets you track work and financials without setting budget limits.

This option is designed for teams that want visibility, not control: you can see costs, billable amounts, and profit, but the project is not constrained by a predefined budget.

How No budget limit projects work

In a No budget limit project:

• No estimated cost, hours, or client budget is required
• There are no budget limits or alerts
• Work can continue regardless of cost or time spent

How to configure a No budget project

1. In your sidebar, go to Projects
2. Select a project
3. Within the project, access the Settings tab
4. Scroll down to the Financial details section
5. In budget type, choose No budget
6. Choose between Project budget or budget per phase
   • Project budget:
     • Set the fixed cost: indirect expenses essential for business operations, covering items like rent and administrative salaries
     • Choose whether to set it as billable or not
7. Click on Save

What you can track in No budget limit projects

In the project overview, you’ll see:

•  Financial details
  • Billable-to-date
  • Cost to-date
  • Current profit
• Project status
  • Tracked hours
  • Completed tasks
• Progress breakdown
  Filter it by date and status
  • Hours evolution
    • Hours or cost progress
  • Distribution by
    • Person
    • Date
    • Hours or cost progress