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Project Budgets

PRO+ Feature

Project budgets are only available in PRO and ENTERPRISE tiers. Upgrade to unlock →

Overview​

Project budgets help you monitor spending, prevent cost overruns, and ensure profitable project delivery. CADENSA supports both fixed budgets (total cost) and hourly budgets (time-based).

Benefits:

  • Prevent budget overruns
  • Real-time spending visibility
  • Automated alerts at thresholds
  • Profitability tracking
  • Stakeholder notifications

Budget Types​

Fixed Budget​

Definition: Total monetary limit for the project.

Example: €5,000 website redesign project

How it works:

  1. Set fixed budget: €5,000
  2. Team tracks time on project
  3. Time entries × hourly rates = cost
  4. When cost reaches €4,000 (80%), alert triggered
  5. When cost reaches €5,000 (100%), budget exhausted

Best for:

  • Fixed-price contracts
  • Quote-based projects
  • Cost-plus projects with cap

Configuration:

Budget Type: Fixed
Amount: €5,000
Currency: EUR
Alerts: 80%, 90%, 100%

Hourly Budget​

Definition: Maximum billable hours allocated to the project.

Example: 100-hour consulting retainer

How it works:

  1. Set hourly budget: 100 hours
  2. Team tracks time on project
  3. Sum of time entries = hours used
  4. When 80 hours used (80%), alert triggered
  5. When 100 hours used (100%), budget exhausted

Best for:

  • Retainer agreements
  • Time & materials contracts
  • Capacity planning

Configuration:

Budget Type: Hourly
Hours: 100
Alerts: 80%, 90%, 100%
Rate (optional): €50/hour (for cost calculation)

No Budget​

Definition: No budget restrictions or tracking.

When to use:

  • Internal projects
  • Open-ended work
  • Non-billable activities
  • R&D projects

Default: New projects have no budget until you set one.

Setting Up a Budget​

Initial Setup​

Step 1: Navigate to Project Budget Settings

  1. Go to Projects → Select your project
  2. Navigate to Settings tab
  3. Click Budget section

Step 2: Choose Budget Type

  • Select Fixed, Hourly, or No Budget

Step 3: Configure Budget

For Fixed Budget:

  • Amount: Enter total budget (e.g., 5000)
  • Currency: EUR, USD, HUF, etc. (defaults to workspace currency)
  • Include non-billable: Include/exclude non-billable time in calculations

For Hourly Budget:

  • Hours: Enter maximum hours (e.g., 100)
  • Rate (optional): Set rate for cost calculation
  • Include non-billable: Include/exclude non-billable hours

Step 4: Configure Alerts

  • 80% threshold: Warning alert
  • 90% threshold: Critical warning
  • 100% threshold: Budget exceeded alert
  • 110% threshold: Severe overrun alert

Step 5: Notification Settings

  • Email recipients: Project owner, managers, specific emails
  • In-app notifications: Real-time alerts
  • Slack integration: ENTERPRISE only

Step 6: Save Budget

  • Click "Save Budget" button
  • Budget tracking starts immediately

Budget Tracking​

Real-Time Budget Dashboard​

Available in: Project Settings → Budget tab

Information Displayed:

Budget Overview:

  • Total Budget: €5,000 (or 100 hours)
  • Spent: €3,200 (or 64 hours)
  • Remaining: €1,800 (or 36 hours)
  • Percentage Used: 64%
  • Status: On Track / At Risk / Exceeded

Visual Progress Bar:

[████████████░░░░░░░░] 64% On Track (0-79%) At Risk (80-99%) Exceeded (100%+)

Burn Rate Analysis (ENTERPRISE):

  • Daily burn: €160/day
  • Weekly burn: €800/week
  • Projected completion: Based on current rate
  • Days remaining: At current pace

Budget Breakdown​

By Team Member:

MemberHoursCost% of Budget
John (Manager)20h€1,60032%
Jane (Designer)25h€1,25025%
Bob (Developer)19h€95019%
Total64h€3,80076%

By Task (if tasks used):

TaskHoursCostStatus
Design25h€1,250Done
Development30h€1,500In Progress
Testing9h€450To Do

By Time Period:

  • Week 1: €800
  • Week 2: €1,200
  • Week 3: €1,000
  • Week 4: €800 (current)

Budget Alerts​

Alert Thresholds​

80% Warning

  • When: Budget reaches 80% (€4,000 of €5,000)
  • Action: Email sent to project owner/manager
  • Message: "Project XYZ has reached 80% of budget (€4,000 / €5,000)"
  • Recommendation: Review remaining work, adjust scope if needed

90% Critical

  • When: Budget reaches 90% (€4,500 of €5,000)
  • Action: Email + in-app notification
  • Message: "Critical: Project XYZ at 90% budget (€4,500 / €5,000)"
  • Recommendation: Immediate review, notify client

100% Exceeded

  • When: Budget reaches 100% (€5,000 of €5,000)
  • Action: Email + in-app + daily digests until resolved
  • Message: "Budget exceeded! Project XYZ at 100% (€5,000 / €5,000)"
  • Recommendation: Stop work, discuss with client, adjust budget

110% Severe Overrun 🚨

  • When: Budget reaches 110% (€5,500 of €5,000)
  • Action: Escalation to workspace owner
  • Message: "Severe overrun: Project XYZ at 110% (€5,500 / €5,000)"
  • Recommendation: Urgent action required

Alert Recipients​

Default Recipients:

  • Project Owner
  • Project Managers
  • Workspace Owner (for 110% alerts)

Custom Recipients (ENTERPRISE):

  • Add specific email addresses
  • Client stakeholders
  • Finance team
  • Department heads

Alert Frequency:

  • First alert: Immediate
  • Reminders: Daily at threshold and above
  • Escalation: 110% alert sent to higher management

Budget Adjustments​

Increasing Budget​

When to increase:

  • Scope creep (approved by client)
  • Change requests
  • Unforeseen complexity
  • Client-approved extensions

How to increase:

  1. Project Settings → Budget
  2. Click "Adjust Budget"
  3. Enter new amount (e.g., €5,000 → €7,000)
  4. Add adjustment reason (for audit trail)
  5. Save changes

Impact:

  • Alert thresholds recalculate
  • Budget percentage updates
  • Historical alerts remain in log
  • Audit trail created (ENTERPRISE)

Example:

Original Budget: €5,000
Spent: €4,800 (96% - exceeded alert sent)
New Budget: €7,000
Updated Spent: €4,800 (69% - back on track)

Decreasing Budget​

When to decrease:

  • Reduced scope
  • Client budget cuts
  • Project cancellation (partial)

How to decrease:

  1. Same process as increasing
  2. Enter lower amount
  3. Add reason
  4. Save

Warning:

  • If current spending > new budget, immediate 100% alert
  • Cannot decrease below current spending (validation error)

Budget Reports​

Built-in Reports​

Budget Summary Report:

  • All projects with budgets
  • Budget vs actual comparison
  • Over/under budget by project
  • Export: CSV, PDF, Excel

Budget Variance Report:

  • Projects over budget (red)
  • Projects on track (green)
  • Projects under budget (blue)
  • Variance amount and percentage

Budget Forecast Report (ENTERPRISE):

  • Projected completion date
  • Estimated final cost
  • Based on burn rate
  • What-if scenarios

Custom Budget Reports (ENTERPRISE)​

Build Your Own:

  1. Navigate to Reports → Custom Reports
  2. Select Budget Report template
  3. Configure:
  • Date range
  • Projects to include
  • Grouping (by client, team, department)
  • Metrics (cost, hours, variance)
  1. Save and schedule

Scheduled Budget Reports:

  • Weekly: Every Monday morning
  • Monthly: First day of month
  • Custom: Any frequency you need

Budget Best Practices​

Do's​

  • Set budgets upfront - Before project starts
  • Use conservative estimates - Build in buffer (10-20%)
  • Monitor regularly - Weekly budget reviews
  • Communicate early - Alert clients at 80%, not 100%
  • Track non-billable - Include internal overhead
  • Document adjustments - Always add reason for changes
  • Use task budgets - Break down project budget by task (ENTERPRISE)
  • Review profitability - Compare budget vs revenue

Don'ts​

  • Don't ignore alerts - Act on 80% warnings immediately
  • Don't hide overruns - Transparency with clients
  • Don't adjust without reason - Audit trail important
  • Don't set unrealistic budgets - Sets up for failure
  • Don't forget buffer - Unexpected work always happens
  • Don't skip documentation - Record scope changes
  • Don't mix billable/non-billable - Separate projects for clarity

Budget Scenarios​

Scenario 1: Fixed-Price Website ($10,000)​

Setup:

Budget Type: Fixed
Amount: $10,000
Estimated Hours: 125 hours (at $80/hour)
Team: 2 developers, 1 designer

Budget Allocation:

  • Design: $2,500 (25%)
  • Development: $6,000 (60%)
  • QA/Testing: $1,000 (10%)
  • Project Management: $500 (5%)

Monitoring:

  • Weekly budget check-ins
  • Alerts at 80% ($8,000), 90% ($9,000), 100% ($10,000)
  • Bi-weekly client updates

Result:

  • Final cost: $9,200 (92%)
  • Under budget: $800
  • Profit margin: 8%

Scenario 2: Retainer (40 hours/month)​

Setup:

Budget Type: Hourly
Hours: 40 hours/month
Rate: €75/hour
Total Value: €3,000/month
Recurring: Yes (monthly reset)

Usage:

  • Week 1: 8 hours (20%)
  • Week 2: 12 hours (30%)
  • Week 3: 15 hours (37.5%)
  • Week 4: 5 hours (12.5%)

Total: 40 hours (100% used)

Next Month: Budget resets to 40 hours

Scenario 3: T&M with Cap ($50,000)​

Setup:

Budget Type: Fixed (cap)
Amount: $50,000
Billing: Time & Materials
Team Rate: $125/hour
Maximum Hours: 400 hours

Tracking:

  • Monthly invoicing based on actual hours
  • Budget tracks toward $50,000 cap
  • Client approval required for work beyond cap

Communication:

  • Invoice monthly: Actual hours × rate
  • Budget alert at 80% ($40,000): Discuss remaining scope
  • Budget alert at 90% ($45,000): Formal change order or project closure

Troubleshooting​

Budget not tracking correctly​

Problem: Spent amount doesn't match expected.

Causes:

  • Non-billable time included/excluded incorrectly
  • Rate changes not accounted for
  • Manual time entry errors

Solutions:

  1. Check "Include non-billable" setting
  2. Review time entry rates
  3. Verify all time entries tagged to project
  4. Export time log for manual verification

Alerts not being sent​

Problem: No email when threshold reached.

Causes:

  • Email notifications disabled
  • Wrong email addresses
  • Spam folder

Solutions:

  1. Project Settings → Budget → Alerts
  2. Verify email addresses
  3. Check spam/junk folder
  4. Add noreply@cadensa.io to contacts

Cannot set budget​

Problem: Budget section grayed out or not available.

Reason: FREE tier doesn't include budget tracking.

Solution: Upgrade to PRO or ENTERPRISE tier.

Next Steps​

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