> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Budget permissions > Who can set a project budget, add task caps and see cost and margin in TimeTracker. The full role matrix, the cost firewall and the two Pro plan gates. Budgets use two capabilities plus a plan gate, and they answer different questions. | Gate | The question it answers | | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | | `budget.manage` | May you **set** a budget or a task cap? | | `time.viewCost` / `rate.viewCost` | May you **see** cost and margin? | | The `budgets` plan feature | Does your plan include project budgets? | | The `profitability` plan feature | Does your plan let you set a **cost** rate? | Keep them apart. Being allowed to set a budget does not mean you can see what the project costs. ## The role matrix | Action | Owner | Admin | Project Manager | Finance | Member | Contractor | Client | | ------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ----- | --------------- | ------- | ------ | ---------- | ------ | | See the Budget card in project Settings | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | | Set or change a project budget | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | | Set the reset schedule on a retainer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | | Set a margin floor | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | | Add or remove a task cap | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | | See the Financials panel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | See utilisation, forecast revenue and health | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | See actual cost, gross profit and forecast margin | Yes | Yes | **No** | **No** | No | No | No | | See the Alerts panel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Dismiss an alert | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Receive budget alert emails | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | | Set a cost rate | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | | See a person's cost rate | Yes | Yes | **No** | **No** | No | No | No | ## The capabilities in detail ### `budget.manage` Held by **Owner, Admin and Project Manager**. It mirrors the `rate.manage` delivery tier. It covers: * setting and changing a project's budget – kind, amount, reset schedule and margin floor * adding and removing a task cap * reading the budget configuration and the caps list **Finance does not hold it.** Budgets are a delivery concern. A Finance user owns invoices, payments and expenses, but the ceiling on a project belongs to whoever runs delivery. Without the capability: * The **Budget** card in project Settings is **hidden entirely**, not shown as disabled. * The **Budget cap** section on a task is hidden, and the rest of the task panel renders normally. The Budget card saves through its own button, not the surrounding **Save changes**. A different mutation under a different capability must never ride along with a general project save – otherwise someone who may edit the project but not its budget would issue a budget write on every save. ### `time.viewCost` and `rate.viewCost` Held by **Owner and Admin only**. Together these are the cost firewall. | Figure | Needs a cost capability | | ------------------------ | ------------------------- | | Utilisation percentage | No | | Completion percentage | No | | Health chip | No | | Forecast revenue | No | | Billable value | No | | Effective hourly rate | No | | **Actual cost** | **Yes** | | **Forecast cost** | **Yes** | | **Forecast margin** | **Yes** | | **Gross profit** | **Yes** | | **A person's cost rate** | **Yes** (`rate.viewCost`) | A Project Manager sees the budget **bar** but not the cost figure behind it. The percentage is a progress signal; the amount is internal. Cost fields are **omitted**, not blanked. The tile grid reflows and no greyed-out placeholder hints at a number you cannot see. The value never reaches the screen at all. The same firewall applies in reports. The **Gross profit** and **Actual cost** measures require `time.viewCost`; **Billable value** does not. ## The three gates Capabilities are only one of three checks. All three must pass. **Budgets & profitability** must be switched on in **Settings → Apps**. It requires both **Projects & tasks** and **Time tracking**, so you cannot turn it on without them. Your role, plus any custom role or per-person denial your workspace has configured. Setting a project budget needs the Pro `budgets` feature. Setting a cost rate needs the Pro `profitability` feature. | Gate | Off means | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | App switched off | Hidden. No Budget card, no cap section, no Financials panel. | | Capability missing | The control is hidden. | | Plan does not include it | The control is visible and opens an upgrade dialog. | "Turned off" and "not on your plan" are different states. See [apps and modules](/concepts/apps-and-modules). ## The plan gates, precisely Two separate Pro features touch budgets, and they do different jobs. ### `budgets` Gates setting a project budget. On Free you cannot create or change one. ### `profitability` Gates **exactly one write: setting a cost rate.** Nothing else. | On Free | Status | | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | | Set a new **cost** rate | Blocked | | Delete a cost rate row | Blocked | | Set a **billing** rate | Free | | Read cost, revenue and margin already recorded | **Readable** | | Read existing cost rates | Readable, subject to capability | | See margin in a report | Readable, subject to capability | So Free does not hide margin. It stops margin being **maintained**. A new hire cannot be given a cost rate, so their hours cost nothing and the recorded margin quietly stops being true. Who may **see** cost and margin is a **capability** question, decided by `time.viewCost` and `rate.viewCost`. It is never a plan question. A Free workspace's Owner sees margin. A Pro workspace's Project Manager does not. See [plans and features](/concepts/plans-and-features). ## Example Northwind Studio, project by project. | Person | Role | What they can do with the Bluebird budget | | ------------- | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Maya Ellis | Owner | Sets the $40,000 budget, sees the $12,500 cost, the \$12,500 gross profit and the 50% margin. | | Tom Whitfield | Admin | The same. | | Priya Raman | Project Manager | Sets the budget, the retainer reset and the margin floor. Sees `31% spent · 63% complete` and the $40,000 forecast revenue. Never sees the $12,500 cost or the margin. | | Daniel Okafor | Finance | Sees the Financials panel and the revenue figures. Cannot set the budget – no Budget card in Settings. Cannot see cost. | | Sarah Lin | Member | Sees the Financials panel with utilisation, health and forecast revenue. No cost, no budget editing. | | Ana Ferreira | Contractor | The same as Sarah. | | Ruth Castillo | Client | Sees none of this. A portal contact holds no internal capabilities. | Priya is the interesting case. She owns delivery on the project and sets its ceiling, but the money the team costs is not hers to see. That separation is intentional. ## Capability is not scope `budget.manage` says you **may** manage budgets. It does not say **which** projects. Which projects you can reach is decided by project visibility, which follows your supervision scope. Both have to pass: * the capability – may you do this at all? * the scope – on this project? See [supervision scope](/concepts/supervision-scope) and [project visibility](/projects/project-visibility). ## Custom roles and overrides Your workspace can define custom roles and can deny specific capabilities to individual people. Two cautions: 1. Some capabilities are **owner-exclusive** and cannot be granted to anyone else. 2. Some are **deny-only** – they can be taken away from a person but not added to a role that does not seed them. Check the role editor rather than assuming any capability can be moved freely. See [roles and capabilities](/concepts/roles-and-capabilities). ## Common questions Budgets are a delivery decision – what the project is allowed to consume. Finance owns invoices, payments and expenses. The two surfaces are deliberately separate. `time.viewCost` and `rate.viewCost` seed to Owner and Admin only. Check your workspace's role editor before promising it – not every capability can be freely reassigned. Yes. Utilisation, completion and health are open to any workspace member. Only the cost amount behind them is restricted. Project managers plus workspace Owners and Admins. The person whose action triggered the alert is excluded. Yes, any workspace member. Dismissing only hides the row from the in-app list – it never re-arms the alert or recalls an email. No. Switching an app off hides it. Every budget, cap and alert is still there when you switch it back on. No. Reading is free. Setting a budget needs Pro. ## Troubleshooting | Problem | Cause and fix | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | No **Budget** card in project Settings | You lack `budget.manage`, or the Budgets app is off. | | No **Budget cap** section on a task | The same two reasons. | | **Forbidden: budget.manage** | Your role or a per-person override does not allow it. | | The Financials panel has no cost tiles | You lack `time.viewCost` and `rate.viewCost`. | | Saving a budget opens an upgrade dialog | Budgets is a Pro feature. | | Saving a cost rate opens an upgrade dialog | Cost rates need the Pro `profitability` feature. Billing rates do not. | | You hold `budget.manage` but cannot see one project's budget | Project visibility. The project may be outside your supervision scope. | | The Budgets app will not switch on | It requires Projects & tasks and Time tracking. Enable those first. | ## Related guides The full permission model. The surface `budget.manage` unlocks. What the cost firewall protects. The same firewall applied to people. The budgets and profitability gates. The gate above every capability.