Overview
Budget and forecast anticipated costs within your project by setting up the Master Project Budget. The Master Project Budget is your go-to spot for all your project financials and will update in real time.
The new Project Budget allows for Budget Phases and up to four tiers of cost codes! These were two of our most requested features, and we are excited to share the new and improved budget feature with you. Previously, budgets were single-phase, and only two tiers could be accommodated. Below is a list of definitions to understand before building your budget structure.
Definitions
Cost Code: Cost codes are used to estimate and commit costs. This is the lowest level of detail displayed on the budget.
Category: Used to group cost codes and provide a subtotal.
Sub-category: Used to group cost codes and provide a subtotal and is nested beneath the overall category.
Phase: Use Phases if your project has multiple distinct sub-projects or phases, for example, Building A and Building B. You will be able to nest categories and cost codes beneath the phases.
Budget Line Items: Used to build an estimate for an individual cost code (optional).
Budgets in INGENIOUS previously followed a structure of:
Category > Cost Code
You can now create budget phases, and use up to four tiers of cost codes. The new structure is:
Phase > Category > Sub-category > Sub-category > Cost Code
This will help you track costs on a granular level while providing additional levels of sub-totaling.
Note: This level of detail is optional. You do not need to use this many levels of cost codes. The minimum requirements are Category > Cost Code.
Examples
Here are a few examples of this new cost code structure and hierarchy:
Example 1:
Category = Soft Costs
Sub-category = Consultants
Cost Code = Architect
This project is single-phase and does not use Phases.
Example 2:
Phase = Building A
Category = Hard Costs
Sub-category = Base Building Construction
Sub-category = Finishes
Cost Code = Drywall
Phase = Building B
Category = Hard Costs
Sub-category = Base Building Construction
Sub-category = Finishes
Cost Code = Drywall
This project is multi-phase and uses Phases and all 4 levels of cost coding. Note that the cost code structure repeats across multiple phases.
A cost code structure can be templated in Lists & Templates. Templates can include category, sub-category, and cost code.
Next Steps
See Also