✔ Available
on Grow and Scale subscriptions 1
What | Create hourly or fixed fee budgets
to track project budget as work
progresses. |
Why |
|
Who |
|
When | If
you're working
on a one-off
project with a
specifically
defined
outcome (i.e.
providing a
finished piece
of work or
specific
deliverable)
where you need
to track
budget. Or
when you need
to budget more
granularly for
subsets of
work using
task list
budgets. |
What | Create hourly or fixed fee budgets
to track project budget as work
progresses. |
Why |
|
Who |
|
When | If
you're working
on a one-off
project with a
specifically
defined
outcome (i.e.
providing a
finished piece
of work or
specific
deliverable)
where you need
to track
budget. Or
when you need
to budget more
granularly for
subsets of
work using
task list
budgets. |
Before you
start
- Budgets require a project's Time and
Finance features be turned
on.
- Each project can
have one active budget
at
a time.
- Standard budgets can be based on total hours or total
fee.
Feature
limits
Plan | Number of total hours
budgets | Number of
financial (total fee)
budgets |
---|---|---|
Grow (& Premium) | Unlimited | 30
active |
Scale (&
Enterprise) | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Plan | Number of total hours
budgets | Number of
financial (total fee)
budgets |
---|---|---|
Grow (& Premium) | Unlimited | 30
active |
Scale (&
Enterprise) | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Create a project
budget
- Click Jump to in
Teamwork's main navigation
menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to
the Finance section
from the project's navigation
bar. The Finance tab might
be hidden under the More...
option.
- Select the Budgets tab.
- Click Add project budget in the Project budget panel. If an existing budget is set, click the ... (ellipsis) at the top of the panel, then click Add New Budget.
- Select Standard as the budget type.
- Set the budget amount.
- Click the dropdown and
choose Time or Financial.
- Enter the total budget value.The fields change (either time or currency based) depending on your chosen budget type — set an amount of hours and minutes or a monetary amount.
- Set a start date. Click the first date field and select a
date.
- Set an end date. While a start date is required, this is optional but recommended so the budget isn't left open-ended. Prefer to manage resources week to week (or other increments)? Think of this as a way to run mini budgets throughout the project.⚠️ Budgets, within one project, cannot be active on overlapping dates. Therefore, one budget's start and end dates cannot coincide with an existing (current or upcoming) budget's dates.
- Click the Budget is based on field to choose what type of time logs (billable, non-billable, or all time) count towards the budget's usage.
- Next:
- Stop there: Click Create standard budget.
- Level up: Set additional budget options (listed below), then click Create standard budget.
- Repeat: Click the Budget repeats field, then choose a repeat frequency (every X days, weeks, or months).📝 Use repeats in conjunction with start and end dates to auto-create new budgets at regular intervals as your project progresses.
- Default billable rate: Under Advanced
options, check
the Set default
billable rate checkbox and enter a
monetary
value. This is the
default rate applied
to users when
calculating their
billable
time.
- Notifications: Under Advanced options,
check
the Notify checkbox to set up
notifications to go out
when a specified amount of
the budget has been used.
For each notification, you
can set:
- 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
notification.
- Budget usage % - specify the usage percentage that, when reached (or exceeded), prompts the notification.💡 Click Add another notification to create additional usage alerts.
The budget is created
and is
displayed in the Project
budget panel in the
project's Finance > Budgets
section.
Another
option...
Project budgets can also be
created from the
project's Dashboard section.
- From the
project's Dashboard tab, select
the Summary tab.
- Scroll to the Project
Budget panel.
- Click Add a
budget. Existing budget
set? Instead, click
the ... (ellipsis),
then select Add new
budget.
View the current
project budget
Budgets can be viewed from a project's
Finance > Budgets section.
- Click Jump to in
Teamwork's main navigation
menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to
the Finance section
from the project's navigation
bar. The Finance tab might
be hidden under the More...
option.
- Select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project
budget panel.
The panel displays the
project's current budget, if one
exists —
this is an active budget
with dates spanning the
current date. Upcoming
budgets (with start dates in
the future) are not
displayed until their start date
arrives.
The current budget's properties
are also displayed in the panel.
Budget total &
type | The
budget's total
amount and
type
(hours
or fee) is
displayed
at the top of
the
panel. |
Graph | A graph shows the budget's
usage. Hover over points
in the graph
to see usage at a specific
point. |
Usage bar | Displays a
progress bar
visualization showing
the
budget's current
usage.
You'll also see
figures
for:
|
Dates | The budget's current start
and end dates (if
set) |
Repeats | The budget's
repeat
interval. |
Based on | The budget's
basis — billable,
non-billable, or
all time. |
Notifications | Existing
notifications
set
up for the
budget. |
Budget total &
type | The
budget's total
amount and
type
(hours
or fee) is
displayed
at the top of
the
panel. |
Graph | A graph shows the budget's
usage. Hover over points
in the graph
to see usage at a specific
point. |
Usage bar | Displays a
progress bar
visualization showing
the
budget's current
usage.
You'll also see
figures
for:
|
Dates | The budget's current start
and end dates (if
set) |
Repeats | The budget's
repeat
interval. |
Based on | The budget's
basis — billable,
non-billable, or
all time. |
Notifications | Existing
notifications
set
up for the
budget. |
Edit the current
project budget
Update the current budget's details such
as total budget and dates.
⚠️ Once created, you cannot
convert a standard non-repeating
budget into a repeating
budget.
⚠️ A repeating budget's start date
cannot be edited. You'll need to
delete the budget and create a new
repeating budget with your new date
and repeat frequency
requirements.
- Click Jump to in
Teamwork's main navigation
menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to
the Finance section
from the project's navigation
bar. The Finance tab might
be hidden under the More...
option.
- Select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project budget panel. The budget's properties are displayed alongside the usage graph in the budget panel.
- Click a field, then choose a new option. Each field (with the exception of repeats) is editable — you can adjust the budget's settings directly from the panel!📝 Click the X beside an existing notification to remove it, or click Add another notification to create a new one.
Another
option...
In addition to the quick
edit options, you can also make
updates via the full budget
window.
- From the project's Finance
> Budgets section, scroll
to the Project
budget panel.
- Hover over the budget type
label (total hours or total fee).
- Click the pencil icon to open the Edit Budget window.
End the current
project budget
No longer need the current
budget? You can end the current
budget to archive it.
- Click Jump to in
Teamwork's main navigation
menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to
the Finance section
from the project's navigation
bar. The Finance tab might
be hidden under the More...
option.
- Select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project
budget panel.
- Click the ... (ellipsis).
- Select End current budget.

The budget ends and
is
archived. It is listed in the
project's budget
history.
Delete the current
project budget
Ending (archiving) the budget not
permanent
enough? Delete the current
budget to remove it completely.
- Click Jump to in
Teamwork's main navigation
menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to
the Finance section
from the project's navigation
bar. The Finance tab might
be hidden under the More...
option.
- Select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project
budget panel.
- Click the ... (ellipsis).
- Select Delete budget.
- Click OK in the confirmation window.
View upcoming
project budgets
View budgets that have start dates in the
future.
- Click Jump to in
Teamwork's main navigation
menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to
the Finance section
from the project's navigation
bar. The Finance tab might
be hidden under the More...
option.
- Select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the Project
budget panel.
- Click the ... (ellipsis).
- Select View upcoming budgets.
📝 The Upcoming budgets window lists the project's upcoming budgets, their value, dates, and whether they repeat. - Next:
- Stop there:
Click Close.
- Keep going: Manage existing
budgets (options listed
below), then
click Close.
- Edit - click
the pencil icon.
- Delete - click the trash can.
View historical
project budgets
When a budget is ended manually
or its associated dates have passed, it is
moved to the budget history.
- Click Jump to in
Teamwork's main navigation
menu.
- Search for and select a
project.
- Switch to
the Finance section
from the project's navigation
bar. The Finance tab might
be hidden under the More...
option.
- Select the Budgets tab.
- Scroll to the end of
the Project
budget panel.
- Click View historical budgets.
- Select a historical budget from the list on the left to view its details and usage graph.
- Next:
- Stop there:
Click Close to
return to
the Budgets view.
- Keep going: Click
the trash can to
delete the historical budget,
before
clicking Close.
Best practices
- Stay informed: Review project
budget during weekly meetings to
ensure that 1) you're on budget and 2)
data is being appropriately tracked
(i.e. time is being
logged).
- Create budgets at the start:
Add a budget as part of the process of
kicking off a project or task list —
even better, add budgets to project
templates if you can.
Elevate
- Granular financial visibility:
Drill down into your project budget by
creating budgets for
each task list.
- Expense tracking: Account for
one-off costs associated with a
project by creating budget
expenses in conjunction
with a financial (fee-based) project
budget.
- Smart budgeting: Use retainer
budgets for ongoing client
work,
rolling leftover budget from one
period to the next.
Put it into
practice
Want step-by-step instructions
in Teamwork?
1. Also available on legacy subscriptions: Premium, Enterprise.