Project Budgets

Set financial and time boundaries on a project, track consumption in real time, and monitor recoverability - including pro-rated figures for time-bound budgets and retainers.

🎥 Video Tutorial

A detailed walkthrough of the upgraded budgets - choosing a budget basis, running multiple budgets, time-bound budgets and retainers, and pro-rated recoverability.

Overview

Project budgets let you set boundaries for a project and monitor work against them, so you can spot engagements at risk of going over before profitability suffers.

This functionality has been significantly upgraded. You are no longer restricted to a single, indefinite cost budget. You can now choose what a budget measures, run multiple budgets on the same project, and tie budgets to a recurring time period - ideal for monthly retainers.

Existing budgets are preserved

Previously, a budget was a single, static value based on the cost rate, with no time period. Any project that already has a budget is automatically converted into a Total Cost budget, so nothing is lost.

Where to Find Budgets

Budgets live on the Edit Project Details page under the Financials section, in the Project Budgets subsection. The same section also holds:

• Target Recoverability (%) - the recoverability you're aiming for on this project.
• Start Date (optional) - used to anchor pro-rated calculations (see below).
• Opening Cost (optional) - a starting cost figure for the project.

Budget Basis

When you add a budget, choose what it measures with the Budget Type:

Budget Type	Measures	Use it for
Total Cost	Accumulated cost (cost-rate × hours). The default, and the type existing budgets convert to.	Controlling internal cost / profitability
Total Time	Hours logged on the project	Capping effort, hours-based engagements
Total Charge-out amount	Chargeable value (charge-out rate × hours)	Fee caps, value-based budgeting

To add a budget, press ➕ ADD BUDGET, pick the Budget Type, enter the Amount, and choose a Timeframe. Use Remove budget to delete one.

Multiple Budgets per Project

You can run more than one budget at the same time on a single project - for example, a Total Cost budget and a Total Time budget, or a cost budget alongside a chargeable-amount budget. Each budget has its own type, amount, and timeframe.

All budgets you define are reflected in the project statistics and list exports, and budget notifications can be configured against any of them. See Budget Notifications.

Time-Bound Budgets & Retainers

Each budget can be Indefinite or tied to a recurring Timeframe:

• Indefinite - one running budget that is never reset (the classic behaviour).
• Monthly / Quarterly / Annually - a recurring budget that Hidma re-measures at the start of each period.

For a time-bound budget, progress, widgets, and notifications calibrate to the chosen period and reset to zero when a new period begins. This makes time-bound budgets perfect for managing monthly, quarterly, or annual retainers - each period gets a fresh budget automatically.

Time-bound budgets only count work "as of today"

For a time-bound budget, Hidma only considers entries dated up to today when calculating the current period's consumption. Time logged on a future date won't inflate the current figure - this is what keeps pro-rated calculations accurate.

Pro-Rated Recoverability

When you check recoverability on a time-bound budget, Hidma generates two figures:

• Recoverability - the full-period calculation.
• Pro-rated Recoverability - an "as-of-today" calculation, prorated to where you are within the period.

For example, on an annual budget that started at the beginning of the year, around the middle of the year the pro-rated recoverability tracks to roughly half of the full-period figure - giving you a realistic mid-period read on whether the engagement is on track.

Project Start Date

The optional Start Date field anchors the pro-ration. Imagine a project created on 1 February that carries an annual budget, but you want the pro-ration to assume the start of the financial year. Set the Start Date to 1 January and Hidma will pro-rate (and start counting the budget) from that date, keeping the calculation aligned to your financial year rather than the project's creation date.

Monitoring Budgets

As team members log time, Hidma tracks consumption against each budget and surfaces it on the project dashboard and the Projects summary page:

• A budget gauge shows percentage consumed (it can read over 100% when exceeded).
• Recoverability and Pro-rated Recoverability are shown for time-bound budgets.
• Period cost reflects consumption within the current period of a time-bound budget.

You can pin budget-related metrics to your views - see Tailored Project Statistics.

Administrator Settings

Administrators can enable or disable specific budget types for the whole organisation under Settings ➔ Configuration ➔ Projects. Disable any budget basis you don't use to keep the budget form simple for everyone.

Best Practices

Budget Management Tips

Match the basis to the engagement Use a Total Charge-out amount budget for fee-capped work, Total Time for effort-limited work, and Total Cost when you're managing internal profitability.

Use timeframes for retainers Set a Monthly (or Quarterly/Annually) budget for ongoing retainer work so each period resets automatically and notifications recalibrate.

Set a Start Date for financial-year alignment When a project doesn't start on the first of the period, set a Start Date so pro-rated figures align with your financial year.

Act on pro-rated recoverability Mid-period, watch the pro-rated figure rather than the full-period one - it tells you whether you're on track right now.

Review after completion Compare actuals against budget after a project finishes to sharpen your estimates next time.

Related Topics

• Budget Notifications - Get alerted at custom thresholds
• Tailored Project Statistics - Pin budget metrics to your views
• Charge-Out Rates - How chargeable amounts are calculated
• Project Status - Managing project lifecycle
• Creating Projects - Setting up new projects

---

Need Help?

For questions about project budgets, visit our FAQ or contact [email protected].