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What | An hourly
or fixed fee
recurring budget
that can carry
over budget
surplus (or
deficit) from one
period to the
next. |
Why |
|
Who |
|
When | For
projects that
involve
ongoing work
or support for
the same
client over a
period of
time.
Typically, the
work is
continuous
with a set
budget
renewing on a
predefined
cadence (like
monthly or
quarterly).
|
What | An hourly
or fixed fee
recurring budget
that can carry
over budget
surplus (or
deficit) from one
period to the
next. |
Why |
|
Who |
|
When | For
projects that
involve
ongoing work
or support for
the same
client over a
period or
time.
Typically, the
work is
continuous
with a set
budget
renewing on a
predefined
cadence (like
monthly or
quarterly).
|
Before you
start
- Retainer budgets require a
project's Time and
Finance
features to be
turned
on.
- A
project can
only have one active budget at
a time. The
active budget
is the one
encompassing
today’s
date.
- Projects
can have
multiple
budgets but
they cannot
have
overlapping
dates, i.e. one
budget's start
and end dates
cannot
coincide with
an existing
(current or
upcoming)
budget’s dates.
Create a
retainer budget
- Click Jump to in Teamwork's
left
navigation menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to the Finance section
and select
the Budgets tab.
- Click Add project
budget.
- If
an existing budget exists, click
the three dots in the top right of
the Project budget area and
select Add
new
budget from the
dropdown menu.
- Select Retainer as the budget type.
- Click the $ (currency) icon
from
the Retainer budget dropdown.
- Choose either $ (financial) or
(time). The option you choose dictates the type of budget you're creating.
- Enter the retainer budget
amount. This is the baseline budget
amount that is renewed each budget
period.
- Select which logged time
type contributes
to your budget. Choose one of the
following:
- All time - all time logged
(billable
and non-billable)
- Billable time - time logged
as
billable that clients should be
billed
for
- Non-billable time - time
logged
as
non-billable that clients should
not
be billed for
- Choose a budget period length
(i.e. the project's
billing frequency):
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Select the
retainer's start and end dates. This is
usually the contract's
duration.
- Customize Retainer
options using the
checkboxes to:
- Add unspent hours to next period's
budget
- Subtract overspent hours from next
period's budget
- Next:
- Stop there: Click Create
retainer
budget.
- Level up: Set advanced
options before clicking Create
retainer
budget:
- Default billable
rate: Set a
default billable rate for the
project. Tread lightly —
this
bulk updates the billable
rate
for everyone on the
project.
- Notifications: Notify
users via email when
the
budget reaches (or exceeds) a
certain percentage. Set the
following options for each
notification:
- Recipient(s) -
click
the user field to
choose one or multiple
project
members to receive
notifications.
- Notification type -
click the type field
and choose email or mobile
push
notifications.
- Budget usage % -specify the usage percentage that, when reached (or exceeded), prompts the notification.💡 Click + Add another notification to add additional notifications. You might want to track a budget as it reaches 50, then 75, then 90 percent of the budget.
Another option...
Create a retainer budget from the project's
Dashboard.
- From a project's Dashboard tab,
select the Summary tab.
- Scroll to the Project budget panel.
- Click Add a budget. Have an
existing budget? Instead, click
the ... (ellipsis) in the Project budget panel's top right,
then select Add new
budget.
Edit a retainer
budget
- Click Jump to in Teamwork's
left navigation menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to the
project’s Finance section, then
select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project budget panel.
- Click the ... (ellipsis) in the
panel's top right.
- Select Edit budget from the
dropdown menu.
- You can edit:
- Budget type (time or
financial)
- Budget amount
- Time log type to contribute
- Budget end date
- Advanced options:
- Default billable
rate
- Notifications
📝 Should any of
the following options
need amending, the budget must be
deleted and recreated.
- Period length
- Start date
- Budget's
under/over spend in relation to
the
next period's budget
End the current
retainer budget
- Click Jump to in Teamwork's left
navigation menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to the project’s Finance section, then select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project budget panel.
- Click the ... (ellipsis) in the
panel's
top right.
- Select End current budget from the
dropdown menu.
- Click the date field.
- Choose a date from the date picker as the
existing budget's end date. The budget
continues to be active up to and
including the
selected date.
- Click Save.
Your budget ends at 11:59pm on the
selected date and after that date shows up in
budget history.
Delete the
current
retainer budget
- Click Jump to in Teamwork's left
navigation menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to the project’s Finance section, then select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project budget panel.
- Click the ... (ellipsis) in the top
right
of the panel.
- Select Delete budget from the
dropdown menu.
- Click OK to confirm
deletion.
Your budget
is deleted (i.e. erased
from the account). It will no
longer appear on reports or
invoices and won’t be visible
or
editable.
View retainer
history
- Click Jump to in Teamwork's
left navigation menu.
- Search for and select the relevant
project.
- Switch to the Finance tab
and
select the Budgets tab to
see the retainer history
chart.
Retainer history
displays the project's budget data
in
columns.

💡
Hover
over any of the chart’s
bars to see the
corresponding period’s
data displayed
numerically. Click See
more to show additional
retainer details (like
start and end dates,
period length,
etc).
Graph
element | Purpose |
---|---|
Total
bar Light
blue | Displays the budget target for
the month or
quarter. In the first month,
it always
matches the default
budget value. However,
depending on the budget's
over/underspend
tracking, it can be more or
less than this
value in subsequent
periods. |
Used
bar Dark
blue | Represents the amount of
budget actually
used within the retainer
period. It fills up as time is
logged
against the
project. |
Added Green section
of bar | Shows the amount of
surplus budget
available if unused
budget has been
carried over from
previous periods. This
bar only appears if
the total bar exceeds
the budget's default
value. |
Subtracted Red section
of bar | This
section is added under the Total bar (below
the x-axis) to represent a
budget that was
subtracted from the default value due
to
overspend in the previous
period. |
Average Pink
line | The average hours spent
or fees incurred each
period up through the
current date. The
goal is to have
this bar as close as
possible to the
default
line. |
Default Dashed grey
line | The baseline retainer
budget amount that is
renewed each period
cycle. |
Graph
item | Purpose |
---|---|
Total
bar Light
blue | Displays the budget target for
the month or
quarter. In the first month,
it always
matches the default
budget value. However,
depending on the budget's
over/underspend
tracking, it can be more or
less than this
value in subsequent
periods. |
Used
bar Dark
blue | Represents the amount of
budget actually
used within the retainer
period. It fills up as time is
logged
against the
project. |
Added Green section
of bar | Shows the amount of
surplus budget available
if unused budget has been
carried over from previous
periods. This bar only
appears if the total bar
exceeds the budget's
default value. |
Subtracted Red section
of bar | This
section is added to the
base of the Total bar to represent a budget
that was
subtracted from the default value due
to
overspend in the previous
period. |
Average Pink
line | The average hours spent
or fees incurred each
period up through the
current date. The
goal is to have
this bar as close as
possible to the
default
line. |
Default Dashed grey
line | The baseline retainer
budget amount that is
renewed each period
cycle. |
Best
practices
- Establish a budget
baseline:
Clearly
define budget
amount, retainer
lifespan and
budget period with
the customer. When
negotiating a
budget, work
towards setting a
realistic target
based on past
performance,
market rates, and
industry
standards.
- Set up a budget review process: Regularly review the budget and assess its performance, making adjustments as needed to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Put it into
practice
Want step-by-step instructions
in Teamwork?
1. Also available on
legacy
subscriptions: Enterprise.