User Roles & Approval Flow in Budgeting

The Budgeting module follows a structured approval workflow to ensure financial control, accountability, and transparency. Three user roles work together within the same budgeting flow: Creator, Approver, and Manager.

Creator

Creators can initiate budgeting, cost, and contingency actions, but these actions require approval before they impact the project budget.

What Creators Can Do:

• Initiate requests to:

  • Link actual budget (via proposal, estimate, manual budget)

  • Use contingency

  • Add manual cost

• Link actual cost directly using:

  • Existing expenses (no approval required)

• View Planned Budget, which reflects all pending approval amounts

All initiated requests are sent for approval before being applied to the actual budget or cost.

Pro Tip: Always attach accurate contingency reasons when raising requests to ensure faster approvals.

Approver

Approvers can both initiate actions and validate requests raised by others, ensuring financial accuracy and control.

What Approvers Can Do:

• Initiate and approve or reject requests for:

  • Linking actual budget

  • Add Manual cost

  • Contingency usage

• Receive reminders for pending approvals in contingency

• Review full budget context before approval, including:

  • Category split

  • Schedule allocation

  • Impact on budget variance

Manager

Managers have full financial authority and oversee risk, contingency, and overall budget health.

What Managers Can Do:

• Initiate, approve, or reject:

  • Budget linking

  • Actual cost linking

  • Contingency usage

• Allocate and modify contingency amounts

• Receive contingency reminders 

Pro Tip: Regularly review variance and contingency usage to prevent overruns and maintain financial discipline.