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.
Specify the source and destination cost codes for fund transfers. Add multiple line items as needed.
Click Save as Pending to finalize.
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.
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.
