How to Read Budget vs Actual and EVM Analytics in CrmLeaf
All editions. Requires the Budget add-on module, enabled for your company by an Administrator.
Availability: All editions. Requires the Budget add-on module, enabled for your company by an Administrator.
Overview
The budget detail dashboard is where you find out whether a project is on budget, how fast it is consuming its budget, and when the money will run out at the current rate. It also provides a full set of Earned Value Management measures, which compare the value of work completed against both the plan and the money spent.
This article explains what each figure means, including every Earned Value Management abbreviation, and how to interpret an N/A value.
How It Works
Every figure on the dashboard is derived. Actuals are never stored: they are rolled up live from the project's Expenses, Timesheet entries, Purchase Orders, bills and Invoices each time you open the screen.
Open budget → Read the KPI header → Check per-line variance → Read the EVM panel → Act
- The dashboard has a KPI header, a per-line planned-versus-actual table, an Earned Value Management panel, a category breakdown and burn-down charts.
- Usage % shows how much of the plan has been consumed.
- Variance is reported both with and without commitments, so you can see the position on money already spent and on money already committed through purchase orders.
- Burn rate is the rate of consumption, and it produces a projected exhaustion date - the date the budget runs out if nothing changes.
- Margin and a category breakdown show where the money is going, and an over-budget leaderboard ranks the worst offenders.
- Costs that no budget line claims appear in the Uncategorised row, so the totals always reconcile with the operational screens.
- A figure that cannot yet be computed shows N/A, not zero.
Who Can Use This Feature?
User
- Open a budget's detail dashboard and read its analytics.
- Review per-line variance and the category breakdown.
- Use the burn rate and projected exhaustion date to plan.
Access depends on the modules and role assigned by your Administrator. Reading a budget requires the view-budget permission, and your ownership scope controls which budgets appear.
Prerequisites
- The Budget module is enabled and a budget exists for the project.
- You hold the view-budget permission.
- Enough operational data exists to compute the measures - approved expenses, approved timelogs, purchase records or invoices on the project.
For Users
Step 1: Open the budget dashboard
What to do: Open the budget for the project you are reviewing. You can also reach it from the project's Budget tab.
What to verify: The KPI header, the per-line table, the Earned Value Management panel, the category breakdown and the burn-down charts are all visible.
Step 2: Read the KPI header first
What to do: Read usage %, variance and burn rate before looking at any line detail. These tell you whether the project needs attention at all.
What to verify: Note the projected exhaustion date and compare it with the project's planned end date. If the money runs out first, act now.
Step 3: Compare variance with and without commitments
What to do: Read both variance figures. The difference between them is money you have committed but not yet paid, typically through purchase orders. A project can look healthy on spend and be over budget on commitments.
What to verify: You know which of the two figures your organisation reports against.
Step 4: Work down the per-line table
What to do: Find the lines with the worst variance, and read the Uncategorised row. Costs sitting in Uncategorised are real project costs that no line claims, so they belong in your review even though no line is over.
What to verify: Every material overspend is traced back to the expenses, timelogs, purchase items or invoices behind it.
Step 5: Read the Earned Value Management panel
What to do: Use the definitions below to interpret each measure. Read cost and schedule together - a project can be under budget only because it is behind schedule.
What to verify: Your conclusion is consistent with the per-line detail, not just the indices.
Field and Option Reference
Each Earned Value Management measure is a standard project-control term. In plain language:
| Field / Option | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| EV - Earned Value | The budgeted value of the work actually completed so far. In other words, what the finished work was supposed to cost. | - |
| PV - Planned Value | The budgeted value of the work that should have been completed by this point according to the plan. | - |
| CV - Cost Variance | The gap between the value of completed work and what it actually cost. A positive figure means the work cost less than budgeted; a negative figure means an overspend. | - |
| SV - Schedule Variance | The gap between the value of work completed and the value of work planned by now, expressed in money. A negative figure means the project is behind the plan. | - |
| CPI - Cost Performance Index | Cost efficiency as a ratio. Above 1 means you are getting more completed work per unit of money than planned; below 1 means each unit of work is costing more than planned. | - |
| SPI - Schedule Performance Index | Schedule efficiency as a ratio. Above 1 means work is completing faster than planned; below 1 means it is completing more slowly. | - |
| EAC - Estimate at Completion | The forecast total cost of the project by the time it finishes, based on performance so far. | - |
| ETC - Estimate to Complete | The forecast cost of the work still remaining, from today until completion. | - |
| VAC - Variance at Completion | The expected gap between the approved budget and the forecast final cost. A negative figure means the project is expected to finish over budget. | - |
| Usage % | The share of the plan consumed so far. | - |
| Burn rate | How quickly the budget is being consumed, used to produce the projected exhaustion date. | - |
| Projected exhaustion date | The date the budget would run out if consumption continues at the current rate. | - |
| Margin | The margin position on the project's budget. | - |
| Uncategorised | Project cost that no budget line claims. Always shown, so the budget reconciles to the operational screens. | - |
Why a value shows N/A
CrmLeaf shows N/A when a measure cannot yet be computed, rather than showing zero. This is deliberate: a zero would read as "no variance" or "no cost", which is a different and misleading statement. Common reasons a measure is not yet computable are that no work has been completed, no cost has yet been incurred, or the project has no elapsed schedule to compare against. Treat N/A as "not enough data yet", and check again once the underlying records exist. Do not report an N/A as a good result.
Expected Result
You can state, from one screen, how much of the budget is consumed, the variance with and without commitments, the projected exhaustion date, the cost and schedule position from the Earned Value Management measures, and which lines and categories are driving the result.
Why This Matters for Service Organisations
A delivery lead is asked two questions at once: is the engagement consuming budget faster than it is producing work, and will it finish inside the approved figure. Consumption answers neither, because an engagement under budget may simply be behind. Earned Value Management compares the value of work completed against both the plan and the money spent.
How It Supports Professional Services
- Usage percentage and burn rate produce a projected exhaustion date, which a delivery lead compares against the engagement's planned end date.
- Variance is reported with and without commitments, so an engagement with large open purchase orders is visible before the bills arrive.
- The Earned Value measures in plain English: EV is the budgeted value of work finished; PV is the budgeted value of work that should have been finished by now; CV and SV express the cost and schedule gaps in money; CPI and SPI express the same as ratios around 1; EAC forecasts the final cost, ETC the remaining cost, and VAC the expected gap against the approved budget.
- EVM measures cost and schedule performance against the plan. It is not a profitability report. There is no stored employee cost rate in CrmLeaf, so a fully loaded consultant cost - and therefore a true engagement margin - cannot be computed here. These figures are cost control against a baseline, not margin.
- A measure that cannot yet be computed shows N/A rather than zero, so an early-stage engagement is not reported as having no variance.
Typical Service Workflow
Approved budget → Delivery → Approved time and expenses → Derived actuals → EVM read → Revise or act
The derivation and every index are computed by the product. Choosing which variance figure the organisation reports against, and acting on the projected exhaustion date, are practice.
Other Product-Type Use Cases
Construction and solar projects use the same panel against cost codes and equipment lines, and internally funded programmes get the same cost-and-schedule pair.
Related PSA Capabilities
- How to Submit, Approve and Revise a Budget — the locked baseline EVM measures against.
- How to Use Budget Reports and Threshold Alerts — the same figures across a portfolio.
- How to Use Time Log and Task Reports — the hours behind the effort picture.
Important Notes
- Menu names and their position can differ between product editions and can be customised for your account, so your sidebar may not match these paths exactly. Use Search or your Quick Access items if you cannot find a screen.
- Budget is a paid add-on module. Confirm it is included in your plan.
- Every actual figure is derived live. To correct a figure, correct the underlying expense, timelog, purchase record or invoice.
- Only approved expenses and approved timelog earnings count, so a backlog of unapproved records understates spend.
- Read cost and schedule measures together. A favourable cost index on a project that is behind schedule is not good news.
- N/A means not computable yet. It is not zero and it is not a pass.
Common Scenarios
Example: healthy on spend, over on commitments. Variance without commitments looks positive, but variance with commitments is negative because large purchase orders are open. The project is already committed beyond its plan even though the bills have not arrived.
Example: the money runs out before the project does. The projected exhaustion date falls before the planned completion date. Reduce the burn rate or revise the budget for approval, rather than waiting for the overspend.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Several measures show N/A. | There is not enough completed work or incurred cost to compute them yet. | Review again once the project has approved cost and progress recorded. |
| Actuals look lower than you expect. | Expenses or timelogs are recorded but not yet approved. | Approve the underlying records, then reopen the dashboard. |
| A cost you know about is not against any line. | No budget line claims that cost, so it sits in Uncategorised. | Revise the budget to add or widen a line. |
| Commitment figures are missing. | The Purchase module is not enabled, so there are no purchase commitments to roll up. | Enable Purchase if you need commitment tracking. |
| The budget does not appear in your list. | Your ownership scope for budgets excludes it. | Ask your Administrator to review your budget visibility scope. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a figure show N/A instead of 0?
Because the measure cannot be computed yet. Showing zero would imply a real result of zero, which would be misleading.
What is the difference between the two variance figures?
One counts money already spent; the other also counts money committed, such as open purchase orders.
Can I edit an actual amount on the dashboard?
No. Actuals are derived and never stored. Correct the source record instead.
What does the Uncategorised row mean for my report?
It is real project cost that your plan does not cover. Include it in your review and revise the budget if it should be planned.