How to Track Spend Against a Project Budget
To track spend against a project budget, every cost has to reference the project at the moment it is requested. Attributed afterwards, the figures are always approximate.
Why budget overruns are found late
Attribution happens at accounting rather than at request.
- Costs allocated to projects retrospectively
- Overruns discovered when invoices arrive
- No view of committed-but-unpaid spend per project
- Purchase requests untied to the project they serve
What to structure
| Element | Why |
|---|---|
| Project as a record | With a budget and a responsible manager |
| Requests linked to it | Attribution happens at request time |
| Committed vs spent | Approved but unpaid is still consumed |
| Savings tracked | Comparison work gets credited |
How to set it up in Jestor
- Register projects in Jestor with a budget and a responsible manager.
- Make the project a required connected field on purchase requests.
- Build indicators for global budget, amount spent, and savings generated.
- Show budget against spend per project, so overruns surface early.
- Post approved costs to the ERP through the native integration.
Why Jestor is the best complement to Omie for project costing
The ERP holds the accounting entries; Jestor holds the request and the approval, which is where project attribution can be captured accurately rather than reconstructed.
Savings generated by comparing quotes is tracked explicitly, which gives a project manager a figure to show alongside the spend.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should attribution happen?
At request time, not at accounting. See jestor.com.
Does approved-but-unpaid count?
Yes, it is committed budget.
Can savings be tracked?
Yes, as a dashboard indicator.
Video Tutorial: Step by Step
Check out other practical tutorials on the Jestor YouTube channel.
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