How to View Your Project Budget vs Actual Spend

How to View Your Project Budget vs Actual Spend

Introduction

Your Project Overview report gives a real-time view of how your project is performing against its budget so you can spot issues early and make corrections quickly.

What You’ll See in the Project Overview

  • Budget Set: The total approved amount for the project.

  • Actual Spend to Date: Sum of all Completed expenses (and optional committed spend if enabled).

  • Variance (Under/Over Budget): The difference between Budget and Actuals.

  • Example Calculation: If Budget = $10,000 and Spend = $7,500, then Variance = $2,500 under budget.

Why Budget vs Actuals Matters

  1. Financial Control: Detect overspend early.

  2. Transparency: Show stakeholders where money is going.

  3. Decision Support: Reallocate budget to critical stages as needed.

  4. Forecasting: Predict end-of-project cost based on current burn.

How to View Budget vs Actuals

  1. Open Reports

    • Go to Reports from your dashboard.

  2. Select the Project

    • Choose the project you want to analyze.

  3. Review the Overview Cards

    • Focus on Budget, Total Money Spent, and Budget Variance.

  4. Drill Down

    • Click charts or tables to view spend by stage, vendor, and items.

Notes & Tips

  • Ensure your project budget is set and kept up to date to get accurate variance.

  • Use date filters (month/quarter) to match reporting periods.

  • Add opening balances/adjustments for projects migrated from another system.

FAQ

Q: Do committed expenses show in Actuals?
A: Only Completed expenses are included by default. You can enable committed/approved-but-unpaid in settings if needed.

Q: Can I compare multiple projects at once?
A: Yes. Use the portfolio view to compare budget vs actuals across projects side-by-side.

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