Dollar Budgets on Tasks

Dollar budgets let you set a dollar-based spending limit on individual tasks and task templates, tracked in real time as team members log time.

Why it matters: When staff bill at different rates, hours alone don't tell you whether a project is profitable. Dollar budgets let you track revenue exposure at the task level — so you can see whether being over on hours is actually a problem, or whether being under hours is masking a margin issue.

Enable the "Set Task Budgets" Permission (Admin only)

Skip this section if your staff already have the Set task budgets permission enabled, or if you only need to use the feature yourself as an admin.

Admins have this permission on by default. To grant or restrict access for staff, update the relevant permission set.

Click the profile icon in the bottom-left corner.
Go to Settings > Access and Permissions.
Open the custom permission set you want to update.
Toggle Set task budgets on or off.
Save your changes.

Add a Dollar Budget to a New Task

Click the global + icon and select New Task.
Fill out the task details in the Create Task modal.
Enter a dollar amount in the Budgeted Amount field.
Finish filling out the remaining task details.
Click Create and Manage.
- The budgeted amount is visible in the task workspace once the task is created.

Add a Dollar Budget to an Existing Task

Go to Work > Tasks.
Click the task name to open it.
Click the three-dot icon (More Options) next to the time tracking button.
Enter a dollar amount in the Budgeted Amount field.
Click Save Changes.
- The budgeted amount is now displayed in the task workspace.

Add a Dollar Budget to a Task Template

Open an existing task template or create a new one.
Enter a dollar amount in the Budgeted Amount field.
Fill out the remaining template details as needed.
Click Save.
- When you apply this template to a new task, the budgeted amount auto-populates.

How Budgeted Amounts Are Calculated

Skip this section if you're already familiar with how user rates and service items apply to time entries.

When time is logged on a task or subtask, the dollar amount accrues based on the time logged and the rate associated with the user recording it. Canopy applies rates in this order:

Service item rate — if a service item is linked to the time entry, that rate is used.
Individual user rate — if no service item is linked, Canopy uses the user's individual billing rate.
Default rate — if the user has no individual rate set, the default rate applies.

📝 Note: The budgeted amount updates once a time entry is saved on the task — not when the timer starts running.

Show the Budgeted Amount Column in the Tasks List

Skip this section if you don't need to view budgeted amounts across multiple tasks at once.

Go to Work > Tasks.
Click the Customize Task List icon.
Select the task list you want to update.
Toggle on Budgeted Amount.
Click Save and Close.
- The Budgeted Amount column now appears in the selected task list. You can filter tasks by:
  - Blank — tasks with no budget set
  - Over Budget — tasks where the accrued amount exceeds the budget
  - At or Under Budget — tasks within their budget
  - Unused Budget — tasks with a budget set but no time logged

Summary

Dollar budgets on tasks let you set a dollar-based spending limit on individual tasks and templates, tracked in real time as your team logs time. Use the Budgeted Amount column in the tasks list to monitor budget status across active work at a glance.