How budgets work - TimeTracker

A budget turns tracked work into three numbers: utilisation (how much you have used), forecast (what the job will cost by the end) and health (a green, amber or red judgement). None of them are typed in. All three are derived from time entries, rates and estimates.

What counts toward a budget

This is the single most important rule, and it differs by budget kind.

Budget kind	Measures	Counts unapproved time?
Money	Approved labour cost	No
Hours	All logged time	Yes

A money budget counts approved cost

Utilisation on a money budget is:

utilisation % = approved cost ÷ budget amount × 100

Approved cost is the sum of cost rate × hours for every entry a reviewer has approved, plus any adjustments. Time that is tracked but not yet approved does not count. It sits in a separate figure, shown under the budget bar as “3.5h awaiting approval”. A tooltip explains it: submitted time is excluded from spent and margin until a manager approves it.

This is why a busy project can show 0% utilisation. Everyone has tracked, nobody has approved. Approve the timesheets and the bar moves.

An hours budget counts everything logged

Utilisation on an hours budget is:

utilisation % = all logged hours ÷ budget hours × 100

Every logged millisecond counts, whatever its approval state. That is deliberate. An hours budget is about capacity, and capacity is consumed the moment someone works, not the moment a manager signs off.

What does not count

Not counted	Why
Expenses	Expenses are tracked on their own axis. A money budget measures labour.
Time off	Leave is not project work.
Time on other projects	A budget is scoped to one project.
Estimates that have not been worked	An estimate feeds the forecast, not the utilisation.

The forecast

Utilisation tells you where you are. The forecast tells you where you are heading.

remaining hours = max(0, estimate hours − tracked hours)
forecast cost = cost so far + remaining hours × cost rate
forecast revenue = revenue so far + remaining hours × billing rate
forecast margin = forecast revenue − forecast cost

Remaining hours floor at zero. If you have already tracked more than the estimate, there is nothing left to project, so the forecast equals the actuals. A project with no estimates has no remaining hours, so its forecast equals what has happened so far. Estimates are what make a forecast forward-looking.

Completion percentage

completion % = tracked hours ÷ estimate hours × 100

With no estimate, completion is unknown rather than zero. The app leaves it out rather than showing a misleading 0%.

Effective hourly rate

effective hourly rate = billable value to date ÷ tracked hours

This is the real rate the project is earning, blended across everyone who worked on it. With zero tracked hours it is shown as a dash with the tooltip “No tracked hours yet”.

Health

Health is a colour derived from the numbers. It is never a field you set.

Red – Over budget
Amber – At risk
Green – On track

Any one of these turns a project red:

the forecast cost exceeds the budget
utilisation is 100% or more – the budget is consumed
utilisation leads completion by 25 percentage points or more – you are spending far ahead of progress

Red beats amber. Amber beats green.

Why the 25-point rule matters

A project at 60% utilisation sounds fine. A project at 60% utilisation and 30% completion is not – it is burning budget at twice the rate it is delivering work. On current trend it needs 120% of the budget to finish. The 25-point rule catches that while there is still time to act, rather than waiting for utilisation to cross 100%.

When the numbers update

The figures update as facts move, not on a schedule.

Event	What moves
Someone logs time	Hours-budget utilisation, tracked hours, completion %
Someone deletes or moves an entry	Hours-budget utilisation, tracked hours
A reviewer approves time	Approved cost, revenue, money-budget utilisation, forecast, margin, health
A reviewer rejects approved time	The same figures, in reverse
A period is closed	Approved cost and revenue lock
An adjustment is recorded	Approved cost and revenue by the signed amount
You change the budget	Utilisation and health recalculate against the new ceiling

The Overview reads a precomputed figure, so it stays fast on a project with a hundred thousand time entries.

Example

Bluebird Coffee – Website Redesign, a $40,000 money budget with a 400-hour total estimate. Work done so far

Person	Hours	Billing rate	Revenue	Cost rate	Cost
Sarah Lin	150	$100	$15,000	$45	$6,750
Jonas Bergman	50	$120	$6,000	$60	$3,000
Ana Ferreira	50	$80	$4,000	$55	$2,750
Total	250		$25,000		$12,500

What the panel shows

Figure	Calculation	Result
Utilisation	$12,500 ÷$ 40,000 × 100	31.25%
Completion	250 ÷ 400 × 100	62.5%
Remaining hours	400 − 250	150
Forecast cost	$12,500 + 150 ×$ 45	$19,250
Forecast revenue	$25,000 + 150 ×$ 100	$40,000
Forecast margin	$40,000 −$ 19,250	$20,750
Gross profit so far	$25,000 −$ 12,500	$12,500
Effective hourly rate	$25,000 ÷ 250	$100.00

Health check

Forecast cost $19,250 vs budget$ 40,000 – not over.
Utilisation 31.25% – under 75%.
Utilisation minus completion = 31.25 − 62.5 = −31.25 – far from the +25 threshold. The project is delivering faster than it is spending.
Forecast $19,250 vs 90% of budget ($ 36,000) – not approaching.

Result: On track, assuming no overdue tasks and fewer than five entries pending approval. The bar reads 31% spent · 63% complete, with the completion tick sitting well ahead of the fill.

The Financials panel

On a project’s Overview:

Element	Shows
Health chip	On track, At risk or Over budget
Edit budget button	Jumps to the Budget section in project Settings
Budget bar	A coloured fill for utilisation and a thin tick for completion
Bar caption	The exact figures, for example `31% spent · 63% complete`
Forecast at completion tile	Forecast revenue, and forecast cost when you can see cost
Forecast margin tile	Only shown when you can see cost
Gross profit tile	Billable value minus cost. Only shown when you can see cost
Effective hourly rate tile	Revenue per tracked hour
Pending caption	`3.5h awaiting approval · 4 entries`, with an explanatory tooltip
Overdue caption	`2 overdue tasks may push this forecast.`

With no budget and no approved time, the panel shows No budget set and a Set budget button instead.

The cost tiles are omitted, not blanked, for someone without time.viewCost or rate.viewCost. The grid reflows. There is no greyed-out placeholder hinting at a number you are not allowed to see.

Permissions

Action	Capability	Roles
See the Financials panel and revenue figures	– (workspace member)	Any member
See cost, gross profit and forecast margin	`time.viewCost` or `rate.viewCost`	Owner, Admin
Set or change the budget	`budget.manage`	Owner, Admin, Project Manager

Common questions

Why is my utilisation 0% when the team has been tracking all week?

You have a money budget, and none of that time is approved yet. A money budget counts approved cost only. Look for the “awaiting approval” caption under the bar.

Why does an hours budget move immediately?

Because an hours budget measures capacity, and capacity is used up the moment someone works. Approval status is irrelevant to it.

My project has no estimates. Is the forecast wrong?

It is not wrong, it is just not forward-looking. With no estimate there are no remaining hours to project, so the forecast equals the actuals. Add task estimates to get a real forecast.

Can I mark a red project as green?

No. Health is derived, never hand-set. Change the underlying facts – raise the budget, reduce the remaining estimate, clear the overdue tasks, or approve the pending time.

Why is my project amber with only 20% utilisation?

Check the other amber triggers: one overdue task, or five or more entries pending approval, will do it on their own.

Does the completion tick use the same source as the bar fill?

They are different measures on the same axis. The fill is utilisation (spend). The tick is completion (progress). Seeing the fill run ahead of the tick is the warning sign.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause and fix
Utilisation is blank	No budget is set, or the budget amount is zero.
Completion is missing from the caption	No task on the project carries an estimate.
Effective hourly rate shows a dash	No hours have been tracked yet.
The forecast never changes	Nobody is approving time, or no estimates exist. Check both.
Health is red but utilisation looks low	The forecast probably exceeds the budget, or spend is leading progress by 25 points or more.
Cost tiles are missing	You lack `time.viewCost` and `rate.viewCost`.

Set a project budget

Every field on the Budget form.

Hours vs money budgets

Which unit measures what.

Budget alerts

What fires at 50, 75, 90 and 100 percent.

Profitability and margin

Revenue minus cost.

Task estimates

The input the forecast depends on.

Budget vs estimate

Two numbers that are straightforward to mix up.

​What counts toward a budget

​A money budget counts approved cost

​An hours budget counts everything logged

​What does not count

​The forecast

​Completion percentage

​Effective hourly rate

​Health

​Why the 25-point rule matters

​When the numbers update

​Example

​The Financials panel

​Permissions

​Common questions

​Troubleshooting

​Related guides

Set a project budget

Hours vs money budgets

Budget alerts

Profitability and margin

Task estimates

Budget vs estimate

What counts toward a budget

A money budget counts approved cost

An hours budget counts everything logged

What does not count

The forecast

Completion percentage

Effective hourly rate

Health

Why the 25-point rule matters

When the numbers update

Example

The Financials panel

Permissions

Common questions

Troubleshooting

Related guides