# Budget and cost

> Track spend against budget, understand where money goes, and invoice from tracked time.

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/llms.txt).

Source: https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/time/budget-and-cost

---
> **Budget on Pro, cost reports and invoicing on Premium**
>
> Project budget and cost management come with Pro Unlimited. Budget and cost
> reports and invoice management are Premium.

## How cost is calculated

Cost comes from **logged time × rate**. Which means it is only as good as your
[time tracking](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/time/time-tracking).

> **Bad time data makes cost reporting worse than useless**
>
> A cost report built on hours reconstructed on Friday afternoon is not
> approximately right — it is confidently wrong, and people make decisions on
> it. Fix the logging habit before trusting the numbers.

## Setting a budget

**Set it on the project**

    Total budget in project settings, in money or hours.

**Set rates**

    A default project rate, or per-person rates where they differ meaningfully.

**Decide what's billable**

    Meetings? Travel? Rework? Write the rules down — otherwise each person
    decides differently and the data is inconsistent.

**Set an alert threshold**

    80% is a useful trigger. Finding out at 100% is finding out too late.

## Tracking spend

The budget view shows spend to date, remaining, and burn rate.

The number that actually predicts trouble is **burn rate against progress**:

- **60% budget, 60% done**: On track.

- **60% budget, 30% done**: You will be roughly double budget. Act now, not at 90%.

- **30% budget, 60% done**: Either genuinely efficient, or time is not being logged. Check which.

- **100% budget, 80% done**: The conversation you should have had at 60%.

## When a project is going over

**Say so early**

    The options at 60% are real. At 95% the only option is asking for more
    money.

**Find out why**

    Underestimated? Scope grew? Rework? Each has a different fix, and guessing
    picks the wrong one.

**Separate must-have from nice-to-have**

    Cutting scope is usually more palatable than a budget increase.

**Re-baseline once**

    A budget revised three times is not a budget.

## Invoicing 

Generate invoices from approved billable time.

**Approve the timesheets**

    Invoice from [approved](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/time/timesheets-and-approvals) time
    only. Invoicing unreviewed entries is how disputes start.

**Generate the invoice**

    For a project and period, from billable entries.

**Read it before sending**

    Check the line descriptions. They are what the client reads, and vague ones
    invite queries.

**Send and track**

    Record payment against it.

> **Tip**
>
> Time entry descriptions become invoice lines. That is the real reason to write
> useful ones — see
> [Time tracking](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/time/time-tracking#write-useful-descriptions).

## Reporting 

Budget and cost reports cover spend by project, by person and by period, and
roll up across [programs](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/projects/programs).

The most valuable comparison is **estimate versus actual cost** across finished
projects. It is how quoting gets better, and most teams never look at it.

## Common mistakes

**Only checking budget at the end**

    By then nothing can be done. Check weekly.

**Ignoring unbilled time**

    Non-billable hours still cost you. A project that is profitable on billable
    hours alone may not be.

**One rate for everyone**

    Fine if true. If a senior and a junior cost very different amounts, one rate
    makes every project report wrong in a different direction.

**Not looking back after delivery**

    The estimate-versus-actual comparison on a finished project is the single
    most useful number you have for the next quote.

- [Time tracking](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/time/time-tracking): Where the numbers come from.

- [Resource management](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/time/resource-management): Planned cost from allocation.