Budgets are a Pro feature.
You can create new budgets by going to Company settings, then Budgets.
Configuring your budget settings
- Get started by configuring the currency for your budgets.
Your budget reports will always be in the same currency, regardless of the currency used when booking trips. - Choose how often you'd like your budget to renew (Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly) and select a start date.
This is the month/quarter/year for which you'd like to start keeping track of your budgets. Don't worry if you're midway through a period already, you can always add a pro-rated budget amount to compensate. - Decide whether you'd like to receive budget email summaries (or not).
- Now you've configured your budget settings, it's time to create some budgets!
Either create a new budget from scratch or upload a CSV file. Please contact your account manager if you'd like to upload budget data in bulk.
Creating a new budget
- Select which cost center you'd like to create a budget for.
- Define a budget amount for the start date. You can also add periods to plan future months, quarters, or years.
- Choose a budget owner—they will be responsible for reviewing and updating the budgets.
Good to know: budgets are assigned to individual cost centers. If you don't see a cost center available to select from the list, it probably already has a budget assigned to it.
Bear in mind: budget owners will receive notifications when the cost center is overbudget.
That's it! Now you can create budgets for all your cost centers to better control your travel expenses.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if my company creates a budget in the middle of a period?
If you create a budget for the current period after it has already started, the budget will be active from the creation date until the end of the period. For example, if you create a budget for the current period at the beginning of June in a quarterly setup, it will be active until the end of June.
Can I edit a budget after the period has passed?
No, you can only edit budgets when the period is still ongoing.
What happens if I change the budget owner in the middle of the period?
That person will now be the owner of the budget and will receive any communications about it.
What happens if I change the amount of a budget midway through the period?
The percentage of budget spent will recalculate, and any communications may be sent again when thresholds are met.
What happens if there are no assigned owners for a budget?
When creating a new budget, assigning an owner is a mandatory field. In the case that a budget becomes ownerless (such as, when a user is archived), all admins will automatically become the owners.
Are refunds included in budget calculations?
Yes, the amount is net of any refunds received.
Is VAT included in budget calculations?
Yes, we include VAT in the trip cost for budgets.
Can I apply specific approval rules by cost center or budget?
Yes, approval rules can be based on a cost center. You can find out more in this article on "How to set up an approval process".