Overview
The Budget module is the newest addition to Fieldwire's suite of Project Management tools, designed to provide a clear and structured way to manage the financial aspects of construction projects. By setting cost expectations and detailing all necessary expenditures, using the Budget module helps ensure projects stay on track financially from start to finish.
It enables thorough planning for direct costs, like materials, labor, equipment, and subcontractors, as well as indirect costs such as overheads, insurance and permits, while offering a way to monitor expenses and align them with the project's financial goals. This helps to avoid unforeseen costs and ensures transparency for all stakeholders through the process.
In order to acquire this feature on your account, you can schedule a demo with our sales team or you can purchase it with Business Plus. If you are already on Business Plus, the Budget module will be automatically added to your Account.
Table of Contents
- How to Enable PM on a Project
- Budget Permissions
- Set up Cost Codes
- Create (or Import) Budget Line Items
- Budget Table Columns
- Lock Original Budget
- Subcontractors Setup
- Change Orders and Budget
- Actual Cost
How to Enable PM on a Project
For information on companies and how to enable PM on a project, please see this article: How to Enable PM and Manage Companies on a Project.
Budget Permissions
To access the Budget module, you must set up a company in the Project People tab, and set it as the Lead company. Only Admins in the Lead company will have access to the Budget module.
How to set a Lead Company
To ensure that only your "company" can access and manage the Budget, set it as the Lead Company. To get started, you'll first want to go to the project People tab and then click on "Set lead company" for the company that you want to be considered the "lead".
After clicking on "Set lead company", you'll get a pop-up that indicates what the users in the Lead company can do vs users in the "Other companies" that were not designated to be the lead. For example, users in the Lead company can access and manage the Budget, but users in the 'Other companies' do not have access to the Budget module.
After you click the blue "Set lead company" button, you'll see the lead company indicated with a crown icon and "Lead company" next to it.
Set up Cost Codes
Cost codes are required to set up your Budget and can be used to connect line items with Change orders. On initial set up of the Budget module for your project, you will be prompted to 'Manage cost codes':
After initial set up, you can still 'Manage cost codes' from within the Budget:
You can add codes to create Budget and Change Order line items manually, starting with adding a new cost group:
Then add your codes under the cost group:
Note: Cost codes cannot be deleted when they are used in a budget line item or when they are used in ANY change order.
Import Cost Codes
It is possible to import cost codes by uploading an Excel file. Fieldwire provides a template to get started, which can be downloaded from the import modal seen below.
Note: When importing cost codes from an existing .xls or .xlsx file, please make sure Tier 1 and Tier 2 code cells are stored as 'text.' If the cell is formatted as a 'number' instead of 'text', you will receive an error code when you upload it. This cell formatting is what is used in the template to ensure that if your code starts with a '0', such as "01", Excel does not remove the "0" and makes it appear as "1."
Create (or Import) Budget Line Items
Once the company and cost codes are set up, it is time to start creating the Budget line items. On first set up, this will be the third step, and you will have the option to manually add new budget line items, or import your line items from an Excel file.
Budget line items consist of the following:
- Cost Code
- Cost Type
- Original Contract Value
Note: Cost codes can have multiple cost types
Import Budget Line Items
If you choose to import your Budget line items, you can also download a template, to ensure your Excel file is formatted correctly, from within the 'Import budget' modal:
Once you have completed the three initial steps to set up your Project's Budget, the set up steps will be replaced by your new Budget. You can still add new line items and import your Budget:
Note: Budget line items cannot be deleted when they are assigned to a subcontractor, they are used in a change order, or when they are used in an actual cost.
Budget Table Columns
Each of the columns are as follows:
- Budget items
- Budget: Original contract = Original value of Lead company’s scope of work
- Budget: Current = Budget: Original contract + Lead company’s approved change orders
- Budget: Pending = Lead company’s pending change orders
- Cost: Original contract = Original value of a subcontractor company’s scope of work
- Cost: Current = Cost: Original contract + subcontractor’s approved change orders
- Cost: Pending = Subcontractor’s pending change orders
- Cost: Actual
- Forecast: Current over/under = Budget: Current - Cost: Current
Lock Original Budget
To lock the original Budget and start assigning items to subcontractors, use the 'Lock original budget' button. You will still be able to unlock and make changes to the Budget's original contract values.
Subcontractors Setup
If there are 3rd party subcontractors on the project, select the “Subcontractor” cost type when creating a budget line item. Once you lock the budget, an "Assign to” button will appear next to the subcontractor line items. Click on this button to bring up another modal where you can assign the line item to the subcontractors company in your project as well as set the original cost. Once you're finished, click “Assign”.
Change Orders and Budget
The Change Orders and Budget modules are inherently connected with creating and choosing cost codes.
After you create a change order, select a cost code so the cost lands in the budget.
Once you're done filling out the Change order, click the “Send” button and select “Submit for approval” then send it to your client.
The change order status will update to “Pending approval”.
The value that you input on the change order will appear in the Budget module, specifically in the "Budget" section in the 'Pending' column, and the corresponding cost code that was linked to it, as shown in the screenshot below.
Once the change order is approved it will update the “Current” column in the Budget module.
Subcontractor Change Orders
After you create a change order, request the cost from a subcontractor by clicking on the "Send" dropdown button and then clicking "Request cost".
Note: Subcontractors must be a project user in order to have Change Orders assigned to them.
The change order status will update to “Requested” and the subcontractor will receive an email notification.
If the subcontractor does not fill out the change order in Fieldwire and, instead, sends it back to you, you can submit it on their behalf by clicking “Actions” and “Submit on behalf”.
You can then fill in the change order on behalf of the subcontractor, selecting the corresponding cost code. Once you're done filling it out, click the blue "Submit on behalf" button.
The subcontractor's change order cost will appear under the “Cost” side of the budget in the “Pending” column as well as the corresponding cost code that was linked to it.
Once the change order is approved it will update the “Current” column in the Budget module.
Actual Cost
To add an actual cost to any line item, click on it and a side sheet will appear:
Select the 'Cost' tab:
Click on '+ New cost':
In the modal add in your new cost name, cost value, and any attachments and click Create:
Once the Actual cost is created it will appear in the side sheet for the budget line item and in the Actual column in the budget table.
Note: Multiple actual costs can be added for any line item.
How to Change or Update Actual Cost
Currently, there is no built-in capability to directly edit the 'Actual Cost' value. However, we are planning to introduce this feature in a future update. In the meantime, if you need to adjust the 'Actual Cost' to reflect a new value, you can create a new entry with a negative amount equal to the difference.
Original:
Change:
Please see example above: In this instance, the actual cost of $455,076.87 is incorrect and needs to be updated back to '0'. You can make this change by creating a '+ New Cost' with a value of -$455,076.87. This effectively resets the original cost to zero, and the system will reflect the updated value.