Project Budget | Online Help | Zoho Projects

Project Budget

Managing budget is a crucial part of any project. A budget can help managers improve cost management and reduce budget overruns. Project managers can view the planned versus actual cost in real time with the budget status report. Multiple currencies can be set for different projects to help businesses operating in different countries. By integrating with accounting tools such as Zoho Invoice or Zoho Books, managers can sync their project data and generate invoices.

Use cases

Construction: A construction project for a mid-rise apartment at Zylker commenced and overall budget for the project is set to be $180 to $270 per square foot. The project manager can keep track of the expenses and ensure that the expenses don't overrun the estimated budget.
 
Apartment maintenance: The Maintenance team receives the maintenance charges paid by the residents, calculates the expenses, and arrives at a budget. Every month, the admin of the maintenance team has to ensure that the estimated budget isn't crossed.
 
Software development/ IT: A new application has to be developed from scratch. The project manager sets the overall project expense to be $1 million dollars. Project manager can ensure that the expense doesn't cross the estimated budget. 

Benefits

  1. Track project budget and keep it on track
  2. View planned vs actual reports
  3. Bill by staff hours, fixed cost, or task and issue log hours
Feature Availability: Premium and Enterprise plans. Also available for CRM Plus and Zoho One users.

Budget Types

Zoho Projects supports the following budget types:
  1. Based on Project - Allows users to set a fixed cost budget amount and budget hours for the entire project. Selecting this method also allows users to set a Revenue Budget.
  2. Based on Phase - Allows users to set the cost budget amount, revenue budget amount, and hours per phase. The value can be entered when creating a phase. The project budget is calculated as a total of all the phases and phase hours.
  3. Based on Task - Allows users to set the cost budget, revenue budget amount, and hours per task. The value can be entered when creating a task. The project budget is calculated as a total of all the tasks and task hours.
  4. Based on User - Allows users to set the cost budget, revenue budget amount, and hours per user. The value can be entered when adding users to the project or by editing existing users added to the project.

Billing Methods in Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects supports the following billing methods. Billing method allows users to track budget and invoice customers based on different criteria.
  • Based on Staff Hours - Users are assigned different rates, and project billing is based on the user rates of the members working on the project. You can set user rates when adding or editing users.
  • Based on Project Hours - The billing is based on a fixed project rate. The total hours logged are multiplied with this rate to get the project cost.
  • Fixed Price for Project - Clients are invoiced based on a fixed cost and this option is available only for portals integrated with Zoho Invoice/Books.
  • Based on Task/Issue Hours - In task or issue based billing method clients are invoiced based on the Rate Per Hour set in task or issue. This billing method is used when your organization provides services which are independent of each other and hence each task/issue requires a different rate based on their purpose.

Enable Budget

  1. Click  in the top right corner of the page.
  2. Select Project & Budget under Portal Configuration.
  3. Navigate to Budget Settings and toggle Enable Project Budget.

  • The Project Budget is enabled by default for admin profiles. 
  • For other profiles, you can enable project budget permission by editing Profiles.
  • EVM can be enabled only if the Project budget is enabled.

Enable Budget Threshold and Overrun Limit

Receive email notification when the actual cost exceeds the specified threshold or the planned budget.    

  1. Toggle the Budget threshold email and Budget overrun email buttons in Budget Settings  section. 
  2. Click Customize Email to modify the email template.  
  3. Click Save.

Set Budget For a Project

  1. Navigate to Projects  in the left navigation panel  and then click New Project.
  2. Enter the project details.
  3. Select the currency based on your requirement in the Budget section.
  4. Select Based on Project as the Budget Type to set a budget for your project. You can also set budget for phasestasks and users. If you do not wish to set a budget, you can select None.
  5. Enter Budgeted Hours and Cost Budget.
  6. Enter the threshold limit. You can define this limit only if you have enabled Budget threshold mail in Budget Settings. Note that you will receive an email notification when the actual cost exceeds this limit. Click here to know how to enable it.
  7. Choose the Billing Method. These are:
    • Based on Staff Hours - Users are assigned different rates, and project billing is based on the user rates of the members working on the project. You can set user rates when adding or editing users.
    • Based on Project Hours - The billing is based on a fixed project rate. The total hours logged are multiplied with this rate to get the project cost.
    • Fixed Cost for Project - Clients are invoiced based on a fixed cost and this option is available only for portals integrated with Zoho Invoice/Books.
    • Based on Task/Issue Hours - In task or issue based billing method clients are invoiced based on the Rate Per Hour set in task or issue. This billing method is used when your organization provides services which are independent of each other and hence each task/issue requires a different rate based on their purpose.
  8. Enter the fixed cost if you select Fixed Cost for Project.
  9. Enter the Rate Per Hour (for calculating revenue and invoicing) and Cost Per Hour (for calculating project costs)
  10. Enter the Default Rate Per Hour and Default Cost Per Hour if you select task or issue based billing method.
Click here to understand how the planned and actual cost is calculated based on the above metrics.



  • The default currency is the base currency chosen while enabling the budget. It is considered for budgeting only when no currency is chosen during project creation.
  • The project list view shows the consolidated budget for tasks and issues.
  • Planned cost for a recurring task will be multiplied by the number of occurrences.
  • To view planned cost users must have Task > View All permission.
  • To view actual and forecasted cost users must have Timesheet > View All permission.
Project budget graph is shown on the dashboard.  If you are unable to see the budget details, click and enable Budget Status. The graph gives a detailed view of the planned cost and actual cost incurred for the task. Cost variance is the difference between planned and actual cost. A budget is surplus when the planned cost is higher than the actual cost, otherwise, the budget is overrun.

Budget Tracking Method

Budget tracking method allows you to track planned and actual costs for project budgets that are based on any module and the Billing Method is set as Fixed Cost for Project. The invoicing is done based on fixed cost.

  1. Navigate to Projects and then click New Project.
  2. Enter the project details.
  3. Scroll to the budget section.
  4. Select the Budget Type.
  5. Select Fixed Cost for Project in the Billing Method section.
  6. Select a tracking method under the Track Budget drop-down.

Forecasting

Forecasted cost or hours gives a futuristic picture based on a project's current performance. It is the estimated cost at completion and is calculated based on percentage completion as on date, planned, and actual cost.

Forecasted cost or hours are calculated based on the work hours or planned hours & the actual hours logged for the tasks and the cost per hour. The formulae for calculating forecasted cost and forecasted hours are given below:
  • Forecasted cost = (((100 - % completion) * planned cost)/100) + Actual cost
  • Forecasted hours = (((100 - % completion) * planned hours)/100) + Actual hours.

Calculate Budget

  • Planned hours: Total Work Hours
  • Actual hours: Total billable Log Hours
  • Planned cost: Planned hours * Cost per hour
  • Actual cost: Actual hours * Cost per hour
  • Cost variance: Planned cost - Actual cost

Budget Auto Calculation Schedule

  1. Click Projects in the left navigation panel and navigate to your project.
  2. Hover over your project and click the Access Project option.
  3. Click Dashboard from the top panel. 
  4. Find the Budget Status widget.
  5. Select Amount or Hours from the drop-down to view the budget report.
  6. Budget is calculated automatically every six hours. Click the  button in Budget Status widget if you wish to calculate the latest budget.
Requires Task and Timesheet > View All permission.


You can quickly spot the performance of your project with the help of the tags available in Zoho Projects
  1. At Risk: (Actual < Budget) && (Forecasted (cost/hours) > Budget)
  2. Overrun: Actual (cost/hours) > Budget
  3. Surplus: Forecasted (cost/hours) <= Budget
You can view these tags either in the dashboard or filter your projects based on the tags.
  1. Rejected and non-billable log hours are not included while calculating Actual hours and Actual cost. 
  2. When team members log time for the task, it will automatically calculate the actual cost of the approved billable hours.

Track Budget Overruns

Navigate to the respective module (Task/ Phase), click and select Overrun from Budget field. The log hours can be marked as billable in case a cost is charged to the client and as non-billable to indicate that the hours are not charged. When team members log time for the task, it will automatically calculate the actual cost of the approved billable hours. This updates the budget in real time. You might have to approve or reject timesheet records to ensure budget is calculated accurately.

  • At Risk: (Actual < Budget) && (Forecasted (cost/hours) > Budget)
  • Overrun: Actual (cost/hours) > Budget
  • Surplus: Forecasted (cost/hours) <= Budget

You can view these tags either in the dashboard or filter your projects based on the tags.

  • Rejected and non-billable log hours are not included while calculating Actual hours and Actual cost. 
  • When team members log time for the task, it will automatically calculate the actual cost of the approved billable hours.

Edit Budget

Once a project budget is set, it can be edited if required.

  1. Click Projects in the left navigation panel.
  2. Hover over a project and click  . 

  3. Select Edit Project from the context menu.

You can track your project costs with budgets and deliver on time without hassles by managing the planned and actual cost. This allows more accurate planning for future projects, based on the available funds and team bandwidth.

Places to View budget Inside Zoho Projects

View your project budget in the following locations,

  • Project list page shows the consolidated budget for tasks and issues.
  • Task and Phase list view shows the planned and actual cost or hours computation for the list of tasks and phases in your project.
  • Task and task list detailed view provides the planned and actual calculation for that particular task.
  • View the Budget Status graph on the Dashboard page of your project.
  • You can view the budget forecast in your project list page, task, task list, and phases detail page, Budget Status graph, and in the overview section on the dashboard. 

You can track your project costs with budgets and deliver on time without hassles by managing the planned and actual cost. This allows more accurate planning for future projects, based on the available funds and team bandwidth.


More Reads



    Zoho CRM Training Programs

    Learn how to use the best tools for sales force automation and better customer engagement from Zoho's implementation specialists.

    Zoho CRM Training
      Redefine the way you work
      with Zoho Workplace

        Zoho DataPrep Personalized Demo

        If you'd like a personalized walk-through of our data preparation tool, please request a demo and we'll be happy to show you how to get the best out of Zoho DataPrep.

        Zoho CRM Training

          Create, share, and deliver

          beautiful slides from anywhere.

          Get Started Now


            Zoho Sign now offers specialized one-on-one training for both administrators and developers.

            BOOK A SESSION









                                        You are currently viewing the help pages of Qntrl’s earlier version. Click here to view our latest version—Qntrl 3.0's help articles.




                                            Manage your brands on social media

                                              Zoho Desk Resources

                                              • Desk Community Learning Series


                                              • Digest


                                              • Functions


                                              • Meetups


                                              • Kbase


                                              • Resources


                                              • Glossary


                                              • Desk Marketplace


                                              • MVP Corner


                                              • Word of the Day


                                                Zoho Marketing Automation

                                                  Zoho Sheet Resources

                                                   

                                                      Zoho Forms Resources


                                                        Secure your business
                                                        communication with Zoho Mail


                                                        Mail on the move with
                                                        Zoho Mail mobile application

                                                          Stay on top of your schedule
                                                          at all times


                                                          Carry your calendar with you
                                                          Anytime, anywhere




                                                                Zoho Sign Resources

                                                                  Sign, Paperless!

                                                                  Sign and send business documents on the go!

                                                                  Get Started Now




                                                                          Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                                  Zoho DataPrep Resources



                                                                                    Zoho DataPrep Demo

                                                                                    Get a personalized demo or POC

                                                                                    REGISTER NOW


                                                                                      Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                      Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                      Get Started Now









                                                                                                          • Related Articles

                                                                                                          • Zoho Books or Invoice Integration

                                                                                                            You can create a project budget, invoice time logs, and record expenses for all your projects by integrating Zoho Projects with Zoho Invoice or Zoho Books. Project managers can create budget to view the planned versus actual cost in real time. The ...
                                                                                                          • Project and Budget

                                                                                                            Manage Project and Budget settings such as project ID, tags, project percentage completion, enabling budget, budget threshold and overrun alerts, and budget auto-update frequency. Project & Project Groups Manage Project Prefix & ID, Project Group ...
                                                                                                          • Phase Budget

                                                                                                            In Zoho Projects, users can allocate specific budgets to individual phases within a project. This helps in tracking and managing costs associated with each significant phase or goal of the project. Use cases Software development/ IT: Overall project ...
                                                                                                          • Revenue Budget

                                                                                                            In Zoho Projects you can now track project revenue along with the project cost. Project Revenue is the amount expected to be paid by the client and Project Cost is the verifiable expenditure made by the project user. Project managers can track the ...
                                                                                                          • Task Budget

                                                                                                            Create task-level budgets and track the project budget as the sum of all task budgets. The project budget threshold will be calculated based on the task budget threshold, and both will be updated every three hours for the project. Click Calculate Now ...
                                                                                                            Wherever you are is as good as
                                                                                                            your workplace

                                                                                                              Resources

                                                                                                              Videos

                                                                                                              Watch comprehensive videos on features and other important topics that will help you master Zoho CRM.



                                                                                                              eBooks

                                                                                                              Download free eBooks and access a range of topics to get deeper insight on successfully using Zoho CRM.



                                                                                                              Webinars

                                                                                                              Sign up for our webinars and learn the Zoho CRM basics, from customization to sales force automation and more.



                                                                                                              CRM Tips

                                                                                                              Make the most of Zoho CRM with these useful tips.



                                                                                                                Zoho Show Resources