How to Set Up and Manage Multiple Budgets in a Project

Created by Advaith R, Modified on Wed, 5 Aug at 5:02 PM by Bala L

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When a single project encompasses various work streams, billing models, or service lines, tracking everything under one financial umbrella can get complicated. By enabling multiple budgets within a project, you gain granular control over time tracking, expenses, and team allocations.

Enabling multi-budgets

To enable the multi-budgets feature for your entire account:

  1. Click on your Profile icon in the navigation sidebar and select Settings.
  2. From the left-hand menu, scroll down and click Financial management.
  3. Check the box labeled Enable multiple project budgets.
ImportantOnce enabled, this cannot be disabled manually. Contact Rocketlane Support if you need to make changes after enabling.

Creating budget fields

Each budget can have its own individual fields. To create a new budget field:

  1. Navigate to Settings and scroll down to the Fields section.
  2. Select Budget Fields.
  3. Click Add new budget field or Add a new section.
  4. Configure the field by assigning a Name and a Type. You can also add a description and mark the field as private if needed.

Creating multi-budgets in a new project

  1. Go to the Projects tab and click New Project.
  2. Under the Financials tab, select the Multi Budget option.
  3. Click New Budget to create the first budget.
  4. Enter the Budget name, Status, Billing method, Start date, and End date.
  5. Configure the billing method fields based on your selection:
Billing methodRequired fields
Fixed feeRevenue recognition method, budgeted hours, amount
Time and materialsRate card, budgeted hours, amount
SubscriptionSubscription frequency, number of periods, period budget, period hours
Non-billableBudgeted hours
  1. Fill in the budget fields in the next window and click Save.
  2. Repeat steps 3 to 6 to add more budgets to the project.
TipBy default, the first budget created is set as the default. To change this, click the three-dot menu next to a budget and select Set as default budget.

Creating multi-budgets in an existing project

In the budget drawer, configure the following details:

  • Budget name
  • Status
  • Billing method
  • Start date and End date
  • Budgeted hours
  • Budgeted amount
  • The applicable Rate card

Click Next: Budget Fields, complete any budget-specific fields, and click Save. The budget appears in the budget list after it is created.

Budget management under Operations and financials in Project Settings, with the Add budget buttonNew budget drawer with status, billing method, dates, budgeted hours, budgeted amount, and Next: Budget FieldsCreated budget displayed in the budget list with a success confirmation

NoteAll budgets created under the project use the project's currency.

Once a budget is created, manage it using the More actions (three-dot) menu next to the budget name:

  • Set as default - Make a specific budget the primary reference for project financials.
  • Check audit logs - View a detailed history of changes and updates made to that budget.

Managing budgets in projects

Once budgets are added to your project, you can configure additional settings from inside the project. Go to Project Settings, navigate to Budget Management, and open a budget. You will see a window with three tabs.

Budget details and custom fields

Review and update native fields such as name, dates, billing method, status, revenue recognition method, amount, and hours - as well as any custom fields and sections configured at the account level.

Custom fields can be used to store information such as:

  • Linked sales order or opportunity identifier
  • Region or business unit
  • Any other financial or operational metadata needed at the budget level

You can also link a Salesforce object from this section.

For Salesforce Budget field-mapping instructions, see How to Sync Integrations with Multi-Budgets.

Adding team members to budgets

To add members to a specific budget:

  1. From Budget management, open the required budget.
  2. Select the Team members tab and click Add team member.
  3. Select one or more users or placeholders.
  4. Click Invite.

Add Team Members to Budget dialog with a placeholder and a named user selected

NoteIf a selected user is not part of the project, Rocketlane displays a warning. Click Invite & assign to add the user to both the project and the selected budget.

Effects of budget membership:

  • Only team members in a budget can be allocated to that budget.
  • Only those members can track time and record expenses against that budget when restrictions are enabled.
  • Removing a member from a budget does not remove them from the project. Removal from the project only happens through project-level actions.

Team member not in project warning with the Invite and assign action

Linking revenue entries to budgets

To recognise revenue against a budget:

  1. Open the budget and select the Revenue entries tab.
  2. Click Recognise revenue.
  3. Confirm the Project, select the Budget and Posting period, enter the Amount, and add optional Notes.
  4. Click Recognise revenue to save the entry.

The saved entry appears in the Revenue entries table for the selected budget.

Recognise revenue drawer with project, budget, posting period, amount, notes, and revenue detailsRecognized revenue entry listed in the budget Revenue entries table

Linking tasks and phases to budgets

When your project uses more than one budget, you may need to distribute specific tasks or phases across different financial lines. For example, a "Requirements Gathering" task could be tracked under a Discovery budget, while a "User Training" phase draws from a separate Enablement budget.

To associate a budget with a task or phase:

  1. Open the Project Plan.
  2. Select the specific phase or task you want to edit.
  3. If editing a task: Navigate to Additional info in the task window, scroll to Financial settings, and select the budget or budgets the task should consume from.
  4. If editing a phase: Click Edit project phase and select the appropriate budgets.
  5. Save your changes.

With budgets linked to tasks and phases:

  • Time tracked against that task or phase uses the selected budgets.
  • Expenses linked to that task or phase use the same budgets.
  • Auto allocation for that task consumes from the chosen budgets.
  • Budget filters in the project plan can be used to focus on items linked to specific budgets.
TipWhen you import a template into a project, all phases and tasks are automatically assigned to the project's default budget. You can customize these assignments for individual tasks or phases by following the steps above.
NoteA task does not automatically inherit the budget assigned to its parent phase. This independence allows you to configure specific tasks to draw from a different budget than the phase they belong to.

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