Build and maintain a grant budget

A budget line records the approved amount for one category in one budget period. Together, the lines form the grant's budget grid and allow actual spending to be compared with the correct year and category.

Before you begin: Create the organization's budget categories and add at least one period to the grant. This feature requires Grant Pro, and changes require Manage Grant Finances or Administer Grant Center.

Add a budget line

Open the grant and select Schedule & work → Budget & spending.
Select Add budget line.
Choose the Period.
Choose the Category.
Enter the Budgeted amount.
Select Save line.

A category can have one line in each period. If the same category is already present in that period, edit the existing cell instead of adding a duplicate.

Edit a budget amount inline

Select any editable amount in the grid to change it. A blank category-and-period cell is also selectable; saving an amount there creates the missing line.

Budgeted amounts cannot be negative. Credits and refunds belong in recorded spending as negative expenses, not in the approved budget.

Read the budget grid

For each category and period, BetterUnite compares:

Budgeted — the amount entered on the line.
Actual — expenses assigned to the line.
Remaining — Budgeted minus Actual.
Percent spent — Actual divided by Budgeted.

A negative Remaining amount is shown as an overspend. Percent spent is blank when the line has no budgeted amount, even if spending exists, because there is no meaningful budget denominator.

Use the Show actuals switch to simplify the grid when you want to focus on approved amounts.

Understand the totals

Category parents show subtotals for their children.
Revenue and Expense have separate totals.
Direct, Indirect, and Match may appear as separate cost-type totals.
Unallocated expenses appear separately because they do not yet have a category or period.
Total spending against this grant includes direct and indirect allocated expenses plus unallocated expenses. Match is shown separately.

Review the indirect-cost suggestion

If the award terms include an indirect-cost rate, BetterUnite compares the implied amount with the indirect amount entered in the budget. The suggestion is based on the direct budgeted amount and is a starting point only.

BetterUnite never writes the suggested indirect amount automatically. Many funders apply the rate to modified total direct costs and exclude specific categories. Review the award agreement and enter the amount your organization can support.

Delete a line safely

Deleting a budget line removes the approved amount from the grid. Any recorded expenses assigned to that line are preserved and moved to Unallocated. BetterUnite tells you how many expenses moved so they can be reassigned.

Deleting a whole period behaves the same way: the period and its lines are removed, but recorded spending remains.

Change the category structure

Select Accounts to edit the shared category list. Remember that the list belongs to the entire organization, not just the open grant. A category already used on a line cannot be deleted; make it inactive if it should no longer appear on new budgets.

Recommended review points

At award: Confirm that the budget matches the executed agreement.
After an amendment: Update affected periods and lines, then retain supporting documents on the grant.
Monthly: Import or record spending, resolve unallocated rows, and review overspent lines.
Quarterly: Review percent spent against time elapsed and discuss material variance with program and finance owners.
At closeout: Reconcile final recorded spending with the accounting system before using the derived unspent figure.