You don't create a project budget yourself. Handoff builds it from the estimates and change orders on the project once their proposals are approved, using each line item's client price. To change the budget mid-job, create and approve a change order.
Available on the Pro and Scale plans. You need permission to view Job Costing to see the Budget tab. Works on desktop and in the mobile app.
What you need before a budget appears
A budget appears in the Budget tab once a project has at least one approved estimate. Draft estimates, estimates with a pending proposal, and archived estimates are not counted.
Your client can approve the proposal, or you can approve it for them. To do that, open the proposal's options menu, select Mark as > Approved, and confirm with Mark as approved. Handoff notes that no client signature is recorded.
Until a budget exists, the Budget tab shows No approved budget yet and a Go to estimates button.
What goes into the budget
Each approved estimate becomes its own group in the Budget tab, labeled EST- followed by the estimate number. Its sections and line items carry over.
A line item's budget amount is its client price, including markup.
The table shows it in the Est. client price column, next to Est. cost (before markup).
If a proposal has several options, only the option your client selects feeds the budget. You can't type a budget amount into the Budget tab.
Change the budget mid-job
An approved estimate can't be edited, and Handoff won't create a new version of it. To add, remove, or reprice work after approval, create a change order.
Open the approved estimate and select Add change order. You can also open the project, go to the Estimates tab, and select Create change order.
Build the change order and send it to your client.
When the change order is approved, open the Budget tab.
The change order appears as its own group, labeled CO- followed by its number. The project's total budget goes up by the change order total.
Expenses you already added stay on their original lines. See How to create a change order for the full steps.
On track, at risk, and over budget
The Budget tab compares what you have spent with the approved budget and shows a status next to Est. client price:
On track: you have used less than 80% of the budget.
At risk: you have used 80% to 100% of the budget.
Over budget: you have spent more than the budget.
No budget yet: the project has no approved budget.
Total spent includes confirmed expenses with tax and approved labor hours. Costs that don't match an approved line appear under Other expenses. The Budget tab tracks costs, not revenue.
Export the budget
On desktop, select More actions > Export as PDF or Export as CSV. In the mobile app, use the menu icon beside the filter. Export as CSV is available in the Budget view only.
The export covers the whole budget, not just the rows you have filtered. The PDF shows labor only if you have permission to view time tracking.