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Setting Project Estimates and Budgets

Decide what a project should cost before it costs it

A budget turns a project from something you bill afterwards into something you can steer while it is running. Time Tracker Billing gives you four ways to frame it.

Open a project and go to the Project Estimates tab, then tick Add an estimate for this project.

Project Estimates

The four estimate methods, each with a short description of what it suits.

The four methods

Method
What you enter
Best when
by Budget
A currency amount, plus estimated hours
You have agreed a spend ceiling with the client
by Hours
Total hours for the project
One person or a small team, without many distinct activities
by Users
Hours per team member
Several people, each with their own allocation
by Activity
Hours per type of work
Multi-stage work where each stage needs its own allowance

Dates and totals

Set a Projected Start Date and Projected End Date, then your Estimated Hours and, if you are budgeting by money, a Project Budget amount. The project list then shows a Budget column alongside billed and unbilled totals, so you can see at a glance which projects are running hot.

Getting warned before you overrun

Budgets are much more useful with alerts attached. Go to Settings → Notifications and you can be told:

  • when a project's total estimated time has been reached
  • when a set percentage of the estimate has been reached — 80% by default, which gives you room to act
  • on a project's projected end date
  • a set number of days before the projected end date — five by default

Notification Settings

Notification settings can alert you in the web app, by email, or in the mobile app.

Tip: The percentage alert is the one worth setting. Being told you have hit 100% of the budget is a post-mortem; being told you have hit 80% is a chance to have a conversation with the client.