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.

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.

Here are a few examples of this new cost code structure and hierarchy:

Category = Soft Costs

Sub-category = Consultants

Cost Code = Architect

This project is single-phase and does not use Phases.

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.

Creating Your Project Budget

Master Project Budget Overview

Budget FAQs