The Budget tab holds the planned budget of one project, split into six cost categories (Labor, Materials, Subcontractors, Travel, Equipment, Other Direct Costs). You enter what you plan to spend per category, add notes, and Lock the budget once it is agreed so nobody changes it by accident.
Use it at project kick-off (after the quote is accepted), and again whenever a change order is approved.
Who uses it: project managers and administrators set and lock it; the whole project team can read it.
Where to find it
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Sidebar | Project group → pick the project → Budget |
| Command palette | Ctrl+K / Cmd+K → Budget · {project} |
| URL | /projects/{project}/budget |
| Shown when | The Budget page is enabled for your workspace. |
| Who can open | Everyone who can open the project, including Viewer members. |
| Who can edit | Owner, Projects Administrator, or a Projects Manager who is the project's Manager. |
Screen tour
Budget card (header)
Title Budget — "Planned project budget by category."
Top-right, left to right:
| Item | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Badge | Editable (green, open lock) or Locked by {name} (amber, lock). |
| Lock / Unlock | For editors. Lock is disabled until a budget has been saved once. |
| Save | For editors, while unlocked. |
Tiles:
| Tile | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Planned | Sum of the planned amounts. |
| Committed | Sum of the committed (actual + pending) cost amounts stored on the budget lines. |
| Remaining | Planned − Committed. Green when zero or positive, red when overspent. |
| Utilization | Committed ÷ Planned, rounded to a whole %; — when nothing is planned. |
Any warnings appear under the tiles with a ⚠ icon.
Amounts use the budget currency: the project's cost currency, otherwise the organization's base currency, otherwise the project's billing currency.
Budget Lines card
Subtitle "Set planned amounts and notes for each category.", or "Unlock the budget before editing planned amounts." when locked.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Category | Category name; under it the cost source label (Projects only on this tab). |
| Planned | Input, 0 – 999,999,999.99. |
| Committed | Stored cost for the category. |
| Remaining | Planned − Committed (green/red). |
| Notes | Input, up to 2,000 characters. |
Below the table: Budget notes (up to 5,000 characters) for the whole budget.
Categories:
| Category | Intended for |
|---|---|
| Labor | Team time. |
| Materials | Inventory items, material bills. |
| Subcontractors | Supplier/subcontractor bills. |
| Travel | Flights, hotels, transport, per diem. |
| Equipment | Rentals and equipment usage. |
| Other Direct Costs | Anything else charged to the project. |
Inputs are greyed out when you can't edit or the budget is locked.
Empty state (rare): No budget categories — "Budget categories are not configured for this tenant."
Important: where actual costs appear
On this tab, each category is labelled Projects only and Committed shows only cost amounts already stored on the budget lines. The tab does not pull live costs from time entries or SolaCount, so for most projects Committed is 0 and Remaining equals Planned.
Live actual costs are shown elsewhere:
- the project Overview → Finance card (Revenue, Cost, Profit, Margin) when SolaCount is connected, and
- SolaCount's project reports — see Projects finance and Project profitability.
Use the Budget tab as the agreed plan, and compare it with those figures.
Set or change the budget
- Open the project and click Budget.
- If the badge says Locked, click Unlock first.
- Type a Planned amount for each category (blank counts as 0) and optional line Notes.
- Optionally fill Budget notes (e.g. quote number, change order).
- Click Save.
Result: "Budget saved." The tiles recalculate. The first save creates the budget ("Project budget created" on the Activity tab); later saves log "Project budget updated" with the old and new planned total.
The planned total is also stored as the project's budget figure, which Project groups and project lists use for roll-ups.
| Error | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "Check the highlighted budget fields." | A value is negative, too large or too long; the fields are listed at the top of Budget Lines. |
| "You do not have access to this action. Contact your workspace administrator." | You can't edit this project. |
| "This project budget is locked. Unlock it before editing planned amounts." | Someone locked it meanwhile. Refresh. |
| Status not confirmed | Connection dropped. Click Check current status before saving again. |
Lock the budget
- Save the budget at least once.
- Click Lock.
Result: "Budget locked." The badge shows Locked by {your name}, inputs are disabled and Save disappears. Logged on Activity as "Project budget locked".
Unlock the budget
- Click Unlock.
Result: "Budget unlocked." Badge Editable. Logged as "Project budget unlocked". Make your changes, Save, then Lock again.
There is no confirmation dialog for Lock or Unlock, and no approval step — any editor can unlock.
Statuses
| State | Badge | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| No budget yet | Editable | Save (creates it). Lock disabled. |
| Active | Editable | Edit, Save, Lock. |
| Locked | Locked by {name} | Read only; Unlock. |
Permissions
| Role | View | Edit / Save | Lock / Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organization owner | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Projects Administrator | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Projects Manager who is project Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Projects Manager as project Member, Projects Member | Yes | No | No |
| Viewer (guest) member | Yes | No | No |
Note that planned amounts are visible to everyone on the project team, including Viewers. Don't put confidential margins in the notes.
Worked examples
Example 1 — quick budget
Omar Haddad (project Manager) budgets Al Noor Trading LLC — Website Redesign in AED: Labor 48,000, Other Direct Costs 2,000 (hosting), notes "Quote Q-2026-114". He clicks Save → "Budget saved." Planned AED 50,000.00, Remaining AED 50,000.00, Utilization 0%. After the customer signs he clicks Lock → Locked by Omar Haddad.
Example 2 — fit-out with a change order
Project Dubai Main Showroom Fit-out (AED):
| Category | Planned | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | 60,000 | 2 carpenters × 10 weeks |
| Materials | 75,000 | Joinery, flooring |
| Subcontractors | 35,000 | MEP subcontractor |
| Travel | 0 | |
| Equipment | 10,000 | Scaffolding rental |
| Other Direct Costs | 0 |
- Sara Khan saves: Planned AED 180,000.00. She locks it on contract signature.
- In week 6 the client approves change order CO-03 for extra lighting (AED 12,000 materials).
- Sara clicks Unlock, changes Materials to 87,000 with note "incl. CO-03", updates Budget notes "Contract + CO-03", Save ("Budget saved.", Planned AED 192,000.00), then Lock.
- The Activity tab shows unlocked → updated (180,000 → 192,000) → locked, with Sara's name and times.
- On the Overview Finance card, SolaCount shows Cost AED 96,500 so far; Sara compares it with the AED 192,000 plan (about 50% used).
How it connects
- Overview → Finance and SolaCount show actual revenue and cost to compare against this plan.
- Project groups roll up project budgets.
- Activity records every save, lock and unlock.
- Divisions have their own division budgets, kept in SolaCount.
Tips and common problems
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Can't type in Planned | Locked, or you can't edit the project. | Unlock, or ask a project manager. |
| Lock greyed out | No budget saved yet. | Click Save first. |
| Committed stays 0 | This tab shows the plan; live costs are on the Finance card and in SolaCount. | Compare there. |
| Wrong currency | Budget uses the cost currency / base currency. | Ask finance to set the project currency in SolaCount. |