---
title: "Project Budget and Cost Management Software | Orangescrum"
description: "Set project budgets and rates, let logged billable hours build actual cost as work happens, and see budget against cost and profit per project."
canonical: https://www.orangescrum.com/budget-and-cost-management
---

# Project Budget and Cost Management Software | Orangescrum

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.orangescrum.com/llms.txt).

[Home](/) / [Features](/features) / Budget and Cost

Budget and cost

# Know What a Project Costs _Before It Is Over_

Set the budget and the rates, let logged billable hours turn into real cost automatically, and compare the two while you can still do something about it.

Available in[Cloud](/pricing "Cloud - included")[Self-Hosted](/self-hosted "Self-Hosted - included")Open Source

[Start Free Trial →](/sign-up?utm_source=website&utm_medium=feature&utm_content=budget-and-cost-management)[Book a Demo](https://calendly.com/orangescrum)

Free forever plan · No credit card required · Set up in minutes

## What is project cost management?

Project cost management is setting a budget for a piece of work, tracking what it actually costs as the work happens, and comparing the two early enough to react. Orangescrum builds cost from the hours your team already logs, so budget against actual is live rather than something finance reconstructs a month later.

The problem

## Why projects _go over quietly_

Cost is calculated too late

Finance works it out after the month closes, when the money is already spent.

✓ Cost updates as time is logged.

No early warning

Nobody notices until the project is at 110 percent of budget.

✓ Budget against actual cost sits on the dashboard, updated as hours are logged.

Profitability is a guess

Nobody really knows which projects or clients make money.

✓ Per project profitability from real hours and rates.

What you get

## Budget tracking from _the hours you already log_

Grouped by what you are doing: setting the budget, setting the rates, watching cost build, reading profitability, and billing the client.

01Budget

-   ### A figure per project
    
    Set the budget on the project, alongside the cost you have had approved for it.
    
-   ### A currency per project
    
    Choose the currency for each project from the full list, separately from your company currency.
    
-   ### On the project list
    
    Show budget and approved cost as columns when you list projects, so nobody has to open each one.
    
-   ### Field level permissions
    
    Budget, default rate and approved cost are each their own permission, and the values are stripped out for roles that cannot see them.
    

02Rates

-   ### A default rate per project
    
    Set one hourly rate that applies to anyone on the project who has no rate of their own.
    
-   ### Two rates per person
    
    Give each person on a project a cost to client rate and a cost to company rate, so margin is measured rather than assumed.
    
-   ### A fallback chain
    
    Cost uses the person's rate first and the project default rate second, so a missing rate does not silently produce zero.
    

03Cost

-   ### Built from logged hours
    
    Hours multiplied by the rate produce cost as the work happens, with no separate data entry.
    
-   ### Billable hours only
    
    Cost is built from hours marked billable, so internal time does not inflate the client number.
    
-   ### Company and client side by side
    
    Every figure is produced twice, once at your internal rate and once at the client rate.
    
-   ### Project cost report
    
    Approved cost, cost to client and cost to company per project, as a chart and a table.
    
-   ### Resource cost report
    
    Billable hours, hourly rates and cost per person per project, over a date range you choose.
    
-   ### Export the cost report
    
    The project cost report exports to CSV, so finance can work with the same numbers.
    

04Profit

-   ### Per project
    
    Cost to client minus cost to company, shown per project, with negative figures called out.
    
-   ### Fixed budget basis
    
    Switch profit to be measured against the project budget rather than what you can bill, for fixed price work.
    
-   ### Margin percentage
    
    Profit as a percentage of the budget, or of the billable value, depending on the basis you chose.
    
-   ### Filter the report
    
    Filter by project type, status, client, project manager and date range, and sort by budget, approved cost, billable hours or billable cost.
    
-   ### Export to Excel
    
    Estimated hours, actual hours, budget, approved cost, billable hours, billable cost, unbilled hours, profit and margin in one spreadsheet.
    

05Dashboard

-   ### Budget against cost
    
    A table and a chart of budget, cost to client, cost to company and profit across your projects.
    
-   ### Totals in one currency
    
    Project figures are converted to your company currency using the exchange rates held in the product.
    

06Invoicing

-   ### Bill unbilled time
    
    Billable hours that have not been invoiced yet are listed, and you choose which ones go on the invoice.
    
-   ### Rate, discount and tax
    
    A rate per line, a percentage or flat discount, and a tax percentage produce the total.
    
-   ### Customers and their currency
    
    Keep a customer list with its own currency, and import customers from a CSV.
    
-   ### PDF and layout
    
    Produce the invoice as a PDF, in portrait or landscape, using the billing rate you set for that project.
    
-   ### Send and mark paid
    
    Email the invoice, then mark it paid or unpaid, with every action written to an activity log.
    
-   ### Permissions in detail
    
    Create, edit, view, download, email, archive, restore, delete and mark paid are each their own permission.
    

How it works

## How cost _stays current_

1

Set the budget

Give the project a budget, an approved cost and a currency.

2

Set rates

Set a default rate for the project, and a client rate and a company rate for each person on it.

3

Work as normal

The team logs billable time against tasks and cost builds automatically.

4

Compare

Read budget against cost and profit per project, and act while there is still room.

Who it's for

## For teams that _answer for the money_

Agencies

Know which client projects are profitable and which are quietly losing money.

[Learn more →](/agency-project-management)

Professional services

Manage engagement margin across a portfolio of client work.

[Learn more →](/professional-services)

Internal PMO

Track spend against approved budget across many projects.

[Learn more →](/program-management-software)

Availability

## Which edition includes _what_

Orangescrum runs as managed cloud, self-hosted on your own servers, or as the open-source Community Edition. Here is exactly what each one includes.

Budget and cost management is native, on Pro and above and in Self-Hosted.

| Capability | CloudManaged SaaS | Self-HostedOn-premise / private cloud | Open SourceCommunity Edition |

| Project budget and approved cost | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Currency per project | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Project default rate | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Client rate and company rate per person | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Actual cost from logged billable hours | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Budget against cost dashboard | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Conversion to your company currency | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Field level permissions on budget and rates | Pro | ✓ | ✗ |
| Project cost report with CSV export | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Resource cost report | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Profitability report with Excel export | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Fixed budget profit basis | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Client invoicing with discount and tax | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Invoice PDF, email and paid status | Premium | ✓ | ✗ |

Frequently asked questions

## Budget and cost _FAQ_

### Does Orangescrum track project budgets?

Yes. You set a budget per project, and logged time converts to actual cost using your rates, so budget against actual is always current rather than reconstructed later.

### Is budget and cost an add on module?

No. Budget and cost management is built into Orangescrum. It is available on the Cloud Pro plan and above and in the Self-Hosted edition.

### How is actual cost calculated?

From the hours your team logs against tasks and marks billable, multiplied by the rates you configure. Each person can have a client rate and a company rate, and the project default rate covers anyone without their own.

### Can I see if a project is heading over budget?

You read it rather than being told. Budget, cost to client, cost to company and profit sit together on the dashboard and in the cost reports, and they update as hours are logged. There is no automatic breach alert or email, so this is a number somebody checks.

### Can I measure profitability?

Yes. Comparing billable value against actual cost gives per project profitability, and you can switch the basis to the project budget instead for fixed price work. That is how agencies find the work that is quietly losing money.

### Does it produce invoices?

Yes. Billable hours that have not been invoiced yet are listed, you pick the ones to bill, and a rate, discount and tax produce the total. The invoice becomes a PDF you can email, and it carries a paid or unpaid status. Invoicing is on the Premium plan and in Self-Hosted.

### Does it handle expenses as well as time?

No. Every cost figure in Orangescrum is hours multiplied by a rate. Materials, travel, licenses and subcontractor costs are not recorded here.

### Can I work in more than one currency?

Yes. Each project has its own currency and each customer has theirs. Dashboard totals are converted to your company currency using the exchange rates held in the product.

### Do I need a separate finance tool?

For accounting, yes. For knowing whether a project is on budget and profitable, no. Orangescrum covers project level cost because it already has the hours.

### Is it in the open source edition?

No. The Community Edition covers projects, tasks, and basic time logging. Budget and cost management is in the Cloud and Self-Hosted editions.

## Stop finding out too late

Budget and cost tracking is on the Pro plan and above, and in Self-Hosted. Every plan includes unlimited users.

[Start Free Trial →](/sign-up?utm_source=website&utm_medium=feature&utm_content=budget-and-cost-management_cta)[Book a Demo](https://calendly.com/orangescrum)

## Related capabilities

[Time trackingThe hours cost is built from](/time-tracking)[Invoice softwareBill from approved hours](/invoice-software)[Advanced reportingCost across the portfolio](/advanced-reporting)[Resource managementCapacity and utilisation](/resource-management)