Overview
Effective budget change management in INGENIOUS.BUILD ensures every dollar is accounted for, providing transparency and adaptability to unforeseen project needs. By simplifying fund reallocations and adjustments, the platform helps maintain alignment between project scope and budget, minimizes financial discrepancies, and supports informed decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.
Prerequisites
Your Project Budget must be fully approved (internally and by the client). Without approval, the Budget Changes tab won’t appear. See Approving the Budget for more details.
Process
Creating a Budget Change
Access the Budget Changes Tab
Go to your project budget and click the Budget Changes tab.
Add a New Budget Change
Click Add New Budget Change in the top right corner.
Select:
Category (e.g., Non-Contingency Reallocation, Contingency Reallocation, Project Scope Revision).
Reason for Change (e.g., Budget Scope Gap, Design Change).
Provide a Description.
Allocate Funds
Go to the Budget Line Items tab.
In case it is a Multisite Project:
Click on "Select Sites". Then, select the project site location(s).
b. Once you have selected the project site location(s), proceed to the following steps:
Specify the source and destination cost codes for fund transfers. Add multiple line items as needed.
Click Save as Pending to finalize.
To move money across sites, you can create a budget change TO 'Capital Budget Adjustment' and then in the other site create a budget change FROM 'Capital Budget Adjustment' and vise versa.
Optional Steps
Upload supporting documents.
Use the Calculations tool for unit cost and quantity breakdowns.
Save and Post
Confirm to save changes as Pending. These will appear in your Project Budget/ACR under Pending Changes.
Reallocating Budget Between Cost Codes (Net-Zero Changes)
If you need to reallocate funds between two cost codes without changing your total project budget (a net-zero change), follow these steps:
Click Add New Budget Change and complete the required header details.
Under Budget Line Items, click “+ Add Change.”
In the From field, select the cost code you’re moving budget out of.
In the To field, select the cost code you’re moving budget into.
Enter the amount as a positive number — do not enter negative values.
If needed, repeat the process for additional transfers.
Click Save as Pending when finished.
Note: The system requires that both the From and To fields be filled out on each line item — even for internal reallocations. Negative values are not allowed.
💡 Tip: If you are shifting funds between fundamentally different cost categories (e.g., from Operational Expenditures to Capital Expenditures), consider using a neutral cost code like Capital Budget Adjustment as an intermediate step to balance the transfer.
Budget Change Categories and Reasons
Non-Contingency Budget Reallocation
Budget Scope Gap: Transfers between line items to cover missed project scope without using contingency.
Backcharges: Transfers for missed items within the original project scope without contingency usage.
Contingency Reallocation
Budget Scope Gap: Using contingency to cover missed project scope.
Change of Project Scope: Contingency adjustments for owner-driven scope changes.
Design Change: Contingency used for architect/engineer-driven design changes or errors.
Purchasing Buyout: Contingency adjustments for savings or overages during purchasing.
Field Conditions: Contingency usage for field-related logistics and coordination.
Schedule: Contingency used for schedule acceleration or clawbacks.
Force Majeure: Unanticipated events requiring contingency (e.g., labor strikes, pandemics).
3rd Party Actions: Changes driven by external parties.
Project Scope Revision
Change of Project Scope: Stakeholder-initiated changes to the total budget without using contingency.
Note: that you can use the Calculations function. A window will pop up, where you can input unit costs and quantities, as shown below:
Note: Avoid negative dollar amounts. Simply input the net change directly.
Once you hit save, you will notice that the net change amount is $13,000, and your budget for Professional Design Services has now decreased.
Once you click Save as Pending, you will be prompted to confirm. This will automatically post the budget change onto your Project Budget / ACR under the Pending Changes.
Managing Budget Changes
Actions Menu Options:
Export Authorization: Generate a PDF for signature approvals.
Revert to Draft: Return the change for further edits.
Reject: Discard the change.
Approve: Confirm the change, moving funds to the Approved column.
Deleting a Budget Change
To delete a budget change:
Ensure it is in Draft status.
Open the specific Budget Change you wish to delete and click the three dots, then select remove 🗑.
You will receive a prompt to confirm your request to delete the Budget Change. Click "Yes, Delete" and it will be removed from the list of Budget Changes.
