> ## 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.
# The project Overview tab
> Read a project's Overview dashboard in TimeTracker: the budget bar, health chip, forecast tiles, awaiting-approval caption and the budget alerts list.
**Overview** is the project's financial dashboard. It reports; it does not configure. Every control on it that changes something sends you to **Settings**.
Open a project and pick the **Overview** tab. The tab lives in the URL, so a link to it keeps working.
## What is on the page
Two panels, in order:
1. **Financials** – the budget bar, health chip and forecast tiles
2. **Alerts** – budget threshold and margin-floor breaches
## Before a budget exists
With no budget and no approved time, Financials shows an empty state:
> **No budget set**
> Set a budget to track utilisation, forecast, and health for this project.
A **Set budget** button takes you to **Settings → Finance**. There is exactly one place a budget is written, and this is not it.
## The Financials panel
### Health chip
Top right, beside **Edit budget**.
| Chip | Meaning |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **On track** | Spend and forecast sit inside the budget |
| **At risk** | Close enough to warrant a look |
| **Over budget** | The budget is exceeded, or the forecast says it will be |
### Budget bar
A single bar with a legend underneath.
* The **fill** is how much of the budget has been spent. Its colour follows the health.
* The **thin tick** is task completion.
* The legend states the exact figures: `62% spent · 48% complete`.
Read the two together. Spend well ahead of completion is the early warning that a project is going to run over, long before the bar reaches 100%.
### The tiles
| Tile | Shows | Visible to |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| **Forecast at completion** | Projected revenue, and projected cost when you can see cost | Everyone with project access |
| **Forecast margin** | Projected margin percentage | Cost viewers only |
| **Gross profit** | Billable value minus actual cost | Cost viewers only |
| **Effective hourly rate** | What the project actually earns per hour. A dash with the tooltip *"No tracked hours yet"* until time rolls up. | Everyone with project access |
The grid reflows for someone without cost visibility – the missing tiles are absent, not blank.
### Captions
Under the tiles, two captions appear when they apply.
| Caption | Meaning |
| ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `12.5h awaiting approval · 4 entries` | Submitted time not yet approved. It is excluded from spend and margin until a manager approves it. |
| `3 overdue tasks may push this forecast.` | Overdue work that could change the projection. |
### Edit budget
Top right. Takes you to **Settings → Finance**, where the budget card lives.
## The Alerts panel
Fired, undismissed alerts for this project, one per row.
| Row reads | Fired when |
| --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `Budget usage reached 75%` | Utilisation crossed the 75% threshold |
| `Budget usage reached 90%` | Utilisation crossed 90% |
| `Budget usage reached 100%` | The budget is fully spent |
| `Forecast now exceeds budget` | The projection went over |
| `Forecast margin fell below your floor` | The margin dropped under the floor you set |
The 75% and 90% rows are warnings. The 100%, forecast and margin rows are critical.
Empty state:
> **No alerts**
> You'll see budget, forecast, and margin alerts here as thresholds are crossed.
### Dismiss
Each row has a **Dismiss** button. You see **"Alert dismissed."**
Dismissing only clears the row from this list. It never silences a future alert and never re-arms one. Alert emails are governed separately – see [/budgets/budget-alerts](/budgets/budget-alerts).
## When the Budgets app is off
If an owner or admin switches **Budgets & profitability** off, the whole Overview tab renders nothing – both panels are budget surfaces. Nothing is deleted. Turn the app back on and everything returns.
## Example
Priya opens **Website Redesign → Overview** on a Monday morning.
* The health chip reads **At risk**.
* The bar shows `62% spent · 48% complete` – spend is ahead of progress.
* **Forecast at completion** reads `$51,200 / $23,000`, against a `$40,000` budget.
* **Forecast margin** reads `55%`, still above the 35% floor she set.
* **Gross profit** so far reads `$13,530`.
* A caption reads `12.5h awaiting approval · 4 entries` – Sarah's week is in the queue.
* The Alerts panel shows `Budget usage reached 75%`, which she reads and dismisses.
She takes it to the client that afternoon and agrees a scope cut, before the money runs out rather than after.
Daniel Okafor opens the same page. He is Finance with cost visibility, so he sees the identical figures. Sarah Lin, without cost visibility, sees the bar, the health chip, **Forecast at completion** (revenue only) and **Effective hourly rate** – and no margin or profit tiles at all.
## Permissions
| To see | You need |
| -------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| The Overview tab | Project access |
| Budget bar, health, utilisation, completion | Project access |
| Forecast revenue | Project access |
| Forecast cost, forecast margin, gross profit | `time.viewCost` or `rate.viewCost` |
| **Edit budget** to be useful | `budget.manage` |
| Dismiss an alert | Project access |
## Common questions
By design. Overview reports and Settings configures, so a budget has exactly one writer. Both budget buttons here link to Settings.
No tracked hours have rolled up yet. It fills in once approved time exists.
Only approved time counts toward spend. The awaiting-approval caption shows what is still in the queue.
No. Dismissing clears the row from this list only. Email delivery is separate.
Yes, with a report on the **Projects** source. See [/projects/project-reporting](/projects/project-reporting).
The project list's **Tasks** column and the List and Board tabs carry those. Overview is about money.
## Troubleshooting
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| The Overview tab is blank | The Budgets & profitability app is off | Turn it on in **Settings → Apps** |
| "No budget set" though a budget exists | You lack cost visibility on a money budget | Ask an admin for `rate.viewCost` |
| Missing margin and profit tiles | Same | As above |
| The health chip disagrees with the bar | The **forecast** exceeds the budget even though spend does not | Read the forecast tile |
| Alerts never appear | No budget, or the thresholds have not been crossed | Set a budget and a margin floor |
| "Couldn't dismiss the alert. You may lack permission." | The server refused | Reload, then retry |
## Related guides
What the tiles mean.
Where the budget is set.
Thresholds and margin floors.
Why pending time is excluded.
Where every button here leads.