How to Use Budget Reports and Threshold Alerts 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
Reading one budget at a time answers a project question. Budget reports answer the portfolio question: across every project, where is the money going and which budgets are in trouble? Threshold alerts do the same job automatically, notifying the right people when a budget or one of its lines crosses its warning line instead of waiting for someone to open a screen.
This article covers the three budget reports, their exports, and how the daily snapshot and threshold notifications work.
How It Works
Reports read the same derived figures as the budget dashboard, so a report can never disagree with a project's own screen. A daily job records history and raises alerts.
Set thresholds → Daily snapshot → Threshold notification → Report → Export → Act
- Three reports are provided: Budget vs Actual, Project Cost Summary and Over-budget.
- Each report can be exported to CSV and to PDF.
- A daily snapshot job captures burn-down and trend history, which is what makes the burn-down charts and trend view possible even though actuals themselves are never stored.
- The same job fires threshold notifications when the budget, or any line, crosses its warning line. Notifications go to the budget creator and the project administrator.
- An approval-request notification goes to approvers when a budget is submitted.
- Notifications are delivered through your company's own email configuration and branding.
Who Can Use This Feature?
Administrator
- Configure the company budget settings, including the warning thresholds that drive alerts.
- Confirm email delivery is configured so notifications arrive.
- Review the over-budget report across the portfolio.
User
- Run the budget reports for the projects they can see.
- Export a report to CSV or PDF for a review meeting.
- Act on threshold notifications for budgets they created.
Access depends on the modules and role assigned by your Administrator. Reports respect your budget visibility scope, so two people may see different rows.
Prerequisites
- The Budget module is enabled and at least one budget exists.
- You hold the view-budget permission.
- Warning thresholds are set on the budget or its lines, otherwise there is nothing for an alert to cross.
- Company email delivery is configured, so notifications can be sent.
For Administrators
Step 1: Set the warning thresholds
What to do: Review the company budget settings and set the warning threshold your business wants to be told about. Choose a level that gives you time to act, not one that only confirms the overspend.
What to verify: The threshold is saved and applies to new budgets.
Step 2: Confirm notifications can be delivered
What to do: Confirm your company's notification and email configuration is working, since threshold and approval-request notifications are sent through it.
What to verify: Email from CrmLeaf reaches your team's inboxes.
Step 3: Review the over-budget position regularly
What to do: Run the Over-budget report on a fixed cycle, for example before each management meeting. Use it to decide which projects need a revision rather than a discussion.
What to verify: Every project on the report has an owner and an action.
For Users
Step 1: Choose the right report
What to do: Use Budget vs Actual to compare planned amounts against derived actuals per line. Use Project Cost Summary for the total cost picture of a project. Use Over-budget to list only the budgets and lines that have exceeded their plan.
What to verify: The report you chose answers the question you were asked.
Step 2: Run and read the report
What to do: Apply the filters you need and run the report. Read the Uncategorised figures as well as the line variances - they are real project costs that no budget line claims.
What to verify: The report totals agree with the individual project's budget dashboard. They read from the same derived data, so any difference is a filter difference.
Step 3: Export it
What to do: Select Export and choose CSV for further analysis or PDF for circulation. Note the date you ran it, because actuals are derived live and will move.
What to verify: The exported file contains the same rows and totals you saw on screen.
Step 4: Act on a threshold notification
What to do: When you receive a threshold notification, open the budget's dashboard, identify the line that crossed the warning line, and decide: reduce spend, or revise the budget for approval.
What to verify: The action is recorded either as a change in the underlying operational records or as a new budget version.
Expected Result
You can run Budget vs Actual, Project Cost Summary and Over-budget reports, export each to CSV or PDF, and rely on daily threshold notifications reaching the budget creator and project administrator when a budget or line crosses its warning line.
Why This Matters for Service Organisations
One engagement in trouble is a project manager's problem. Several at once is a pricing, estimating or resourcing problem, and it is only visible across the portfolio. A partner or delivery director needs the portfolio view on a fixed cycle, and needs to be told about a breach rather than discovering it by opening screens.
How It Supports Professional Services
- Three reports cover the two questions a services leadership team asks: Budget vs Actual and Project Cost Summary for the position, Over-budget for the exceptions.
- Reports read the same derived figures as each project's own budget screen, so a portfolio pack cannot disagree with what a delivery lead sees on their engagement.
- Threshold alerts notify the budget creator and the project administrator when a budget or one of its lines crosses its warning line, which turns cost control into an exception process rather than a review meeting.
- CSV and PDF export suit the two real uses - analysis for the estimating review, and a fixed document for a client or board pack.
- Reports respect the budget visibility scope, so a project manager's portfolio view and a partner's are legitimately different totals.
- A daily snapshot job records history, which is what makes trend and burn-down views possible even though current actuals are always derived live.
Typical Service Workflow
Thresholds set → Daily snapshot → Alert → Portfolio report → Revise or re-scope
The snapshot, the alert and the reports are product behaviour. Setting a threshold that leaves time to act, and feeding the over-budget pattern back into how the firm estimates its next engagement, are practice.
Other Product-Type Use Cases
The same three reports give a construction or solar business its site cost position, and a general business its portfolio of internal budgets, with identical alerting.
Related PSA Capabilities
- How to Read Budget vs Actual and EVM Analytics — the single-engagement view behind each row.
- Understanding Reports and Dashboards — why two readers see different totals.
- How to Use Finance and Income vs Expense Reports — the company-level revenue and cost picture.
- How to Configure Notifications, SMTP and Slack — the channel the alerts use.
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 before building a reporting routine on it.
- Threshold notifications are produced by a daily snapshot job, so an alert reflects the position at the last snapshot rather than the last minute. Open the dashboard for the live position.
- Threshold notifications go to the budget creator and the project administrator. Make sure those roles are the people who can actually act.
- A report is a point-in-time export. Actuals continue to change as expenses, timelogs, purchase records and invoices are approved and recorded.
- Reports respect your budget visibility scope, so figures may differ between users. Agree who publishes the official version.
Common Scenarios
Example: a monthly project review. Export Project Cost Summary to PDF for the pack and Budget vs Actual to CSV for the analysis, both on the same day so the figures agree.
Example: catching an overspend early. A line's warning threshold is crossed and the daily job notifies the budget creator and project administrator. They reduce the remaining commitment before the line goes over plan.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| No threshold notifications are received. | No warning threshold is set, or company email delivery is not configured. | Set the threshold and check the notification and email settings. |
| A report shows fewer projects than expected. | Your budget visibility scope limits which budgets you can see. | Ask your Administrator to review your budget permission scope. |
| Report figures differ from the project's dashboard. | A filter or date range differs; both read the same derived data. | Match the filters, then compare again. |
| The burn-down chart has no history. | The daily snapshot job has not yet captured enough days. | Review again after several days of snapshots. |
| A cost appears in the report but against no line. | It sits in Uncategorised because no budget line claims it. | Revise the budget to plan that cost. |
| The reports cannot be opened. | The Budget module is disabled, or you lack the view-budget permission. | Ask your Administrator to enable the module or grant the permission. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which budget reports are available?
Three: Budget vs Actual, Project Cost Summary and Over-budget. Each exports to CSV and PDF.
Who receives a threshold notification?
The budget creator and the project administrator.
How often are alerts checked?
A daily snapshot job captures history and fires threshold notifications.
Why does the burn-down chart exist if actuals are never stored?
The current position is always derived live, but the daily snapshot records history so trends over time can be charted.
Can a report be scheduled by email?
The documented behaviour is threshold and approval-request notifications, plus manual CSV and PDF export. Confirm any scheduled delivery with your Administrator.