Knowledge

Overview

Project Budget is a feature in the Accounting module that allows you to set up and monitor detailed budgets for each project — divided by specific expense categories such as Civil Works, Fuel/Transport, Accommodation...

Unlike the standard Budgeting feature (which is linked to company-wide accounting accounts), Project Budget helps you:

• Control separate budgets for each project without consolidating them across the entire company
• Monitor 3 budget indicators in real time: Allocated/Committed, Actual Spent, Remaining
• Budget Analyze cost efficiency by project to evaluate profitability
• Manage the budget approval process with digital signatures or handwritten signatures

Prerequisites

Before creating a Project Budget, ensure the following:

1. Set up Budget Categories 

• Go to Accounting → Setting → Budget Categories to create budget categories

These are the expense groups that will appear in the Project Budget — for example: Civil Works, Fuel/Transport, Accommodation.

• Click Add new Budget Categories
  
  

• Enter the name, and click Save.
  

Note: Budget Categories must be created in advance. When you create a new Project Budget, the system automatically displays all existing categories so you can enter the corresponding amounts.

2. Configure an Approval Workflow (Optional)

• Go to Accounting → Settings → Approval to set up an approval workflow for Project Budgets.
  
  

• Click New approval setting and fill in the following fields:
  
  
  • Subject: Name of the approval workflow
  • Related: Select Project Budgets
  • Only 1 person needs to approve: Check this if only one approver out of many is required
    • When checked: only 1 person in the Approvers list is required to approve for the Project Budget status to immediately change to Approved — there is no need to wait for everyone to complete.
    • When unchecked: all approvers must complete the approval sequentially in order for it to be Approved.
  • Approvers: Add each approver and select their Action: Approve or Sign
  • Click + to add more approvers, − to remove one, and Save to confirm.

3. Existing Projects

Make sure the relevant Projects already exist in the system so they can be linked when creating a budget.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Step 1 — Open the Project Budgets List

• Go to Accounting in the main menu.
• Select Project Budgets in the left sidebar.
  
  

  The list view displays the following columns: Project, Project Manager, Start Date, End Date, Allocated Budget, Actual Spent, Remaining Budget, Status.
  

  Possible statuses in the list: Draft, Pending Approval, Approved, Rejected.

• Step 2 — Create a New Project Budget

  Click New Project Budget.

  The New Project Budget form opens with the following fields:

  

  • Project: Select a project from the dropdown
  • Project Manager: Select the person responsible for the budget
  • Start Date: Start date of the budget period
  • End Date: End date of the budget period
  • Description: Brief description of the budget's purpose
  • The Budget Details by Category section automatically displays all Budget Categories created in Settings. Enter the budget amount for each category

Click Save to confirm.

⚠️ Overlapping date range warning: You cannot create two Project Budgets for the same project if their date ranges (Start Date – End Date) overlap or coincide with an existing budget. The system will display the warning: "Project Budget already exists for this project in the selected date range!"

• Step 3 — View Project Budget Details

Click on a project name in the list to open the Project Budget Details page.

The details page displays 4 summary metrics at the top:

1. Budget Amount: Total allocated budget
2. Allocated/Committed: Total value of transactions pending approval within the period
3. Actual Spent: Total costs that have been approved
4. Remaining Budget: Budget remaining = Budget – Allocated – Actual

The Budget Breakdown by Category section shows details for each category:

1. Budget Category: Name of the cost category
2. Budget Amount: Budget allocated to the category
3. Allocated/Committed: Total transactions pending approval for this category within the period
4. Actual Spent: Total transactions approved for this category
5. Remaining Budget: = Budget Amount – Allocated – Actual Spent
6. Usage %: = (Remaining / Budget Amount) × 100

The Detailed Transaction Logs section at the bottom lists all transactions mapped to this project budget.

• Step 4 — Submit for Approval (Only When an Approval Workflow Is Configured)

If the system has an approval workflow configured for Project Budgets, a newly created budget will have the status Draft.

1. Open the Project Budget to be approved.
2. Click Submit for Approval in the top-right corner.
   
   
3. The status changes to Pending Approval.
   
   
4. The system automatically sends a notification to the first approver in the list.

• Step 5 — Approve the Project Budget

The approver receives a notification and opens the Project Budget to process. The Approval Info panel appears on the right side of the screen, showing the list of approvers in order.

Approval is sequential: each approver must complete their action before the next person can proceed.

There are two approval methods depending on the workflow configuration:

Method 1 — Approve

1. The approver clicks the Approve ▾ button in the top-right of the Approval Info panel.
2. A dropdown opens with a Reason field for optional notes.
3. Click Approve to accept, or Deny to reject.
   

Method 2 — Sign

1. The approver clicks the Sign button in the top-right of the Approval Info panel.
   
   
2. A Signature popup opens with two options:
   • Sign: Draw a handwritten signature directly on the screen using a mouse or finger. Click Clear to redo.
     
     
   • Upload: Upload an existing signature image from your computer.
     
     
3. Click Sign to confirm.

Signing is equivalent to approving.

Outcome after all approvals are complete:

Once all approvers have either Approved or Signed, the Project Budget status automatically changes to Approved. The Approval Info panel displays an APPROVED stamp along with the timestamp and notes from each approver.

• Step 6 — Actions After Approval

Once a Project Budget is in Approved status, the following additional options become available:

1. Void / Reject: Click Void / Reject → Status changes to Rejected. A Rejected budget can be edited and resubmitted for a new approval cycle by clicking Submit for Approval.
   
   

2. Reset to Draft: Click Reset to Draft → Status reverts to Draft. The budget returns to its initial state. Click Submit for Approval or Send approval request to restart the approval process from the beginning
   

Handling Denials / Rejections During the Approval Process

If any approver selects Deny during the approval process:

• The Project Budget status immediately changes to Rejected
• The approval workflow ends — remaining approvers do not need to take action.
• The Approval Info panel displays a REJECTED stamp along with the reason/notes
• The Submit for Approval button appears so the creator can edit and resubmit.

Budget Metric Calculations

Project Budget Constraints

• A project cannot have two budgets with overlapping or identical date ranges.
• Example: If a budget exists from May 1 to May 31, you cannot create another budget from May 15 to June 15 for the same project.
• The system displays a warning immediately upon detecting a conflict.