Budgets at Pleo

Pleo’s budgets allow you to create a budget using Tags to easily visualise and manage business spending:


Budget creation

An admin or bookkeeper can create a budget using a personalised Tag. To do this, you will first need to set up a Tag for your budget. This Tag will then be assigned to all your budgeted spend and update your budget in real-time.

Before you start to create your budget, there are a couple of things you should note:

  • An admin will need to set up a new Tag for the budget.

  • You will not be able to use an existing active Tag.

  • Only admins and extended bookkeepers can create budgets.

  • Any user can be a budget reviewer.

Budget set up:

  1. Go to the budgets page and click the 'create budget' button.

  2. Enter your budget name.

  3. Select the Tag for your budget.

    • You can select a single Tag for each budget.

    • If that Tag is already used in an active budget then it cannot be used for another budget. The active budget will need to be closed before the Tag can be used again. The Tag will appear in a disabled state in the dropdown.

  4. Choose the total budget amount.

    • This is, by default, set to the company currency. It is not possible to create a budget in a different currency.

  5. Select the start date and end date (optional) for your budget then click 'continue'.

    • The start date must be set to the current date as a minimum or any future date.

    • It is not possible to create a recurring budget. The admin/bookkeeper can create a new budget for the next period e.g. the following month once the active budget has closed.

  6. Select the budget reviewers and click the 'create budget' button.

    • Anyone from the company can be added as a budget reviewer.


Budget statuses

There are 4 budget statuses:

  • Upcoming - Budgets with the starting date in the future.

  • Ongoing - Budgets that have already started.

  • Closes in 3 days - Ongoing budgets that close soon (3 days).

  • Closed - Budgets that were closed because of their end date or manually by an admin/bookkeeper.

You can filter your budgets based on status in the top left of the budgets page.


Updating the budget

  1. Go to the budgets page and find the budget you would like to edit.

    • Only admins and extended bookkeepers can update the budget.

  2. Click the 3 dots in the top right of the budget then click 'edit'.

  3. The information that can be edited depends on the budget status

    • Active budgets - All details can be edited except for the Tag

    • Upcoming budgets - All details can be edited except for the Tag

    • Closed budgets - You can edit the name, budget total, reviewer

    • The start date cannot be changed to be a past date


Closing the budget

The budgets will close in the following situations:

  • The budget will close automatically on the due date. You can see the due date on the budget overview.

  • The budget can be manually closed early.

    1. Go to the budgets page and edit the budget you would like to close.

    2. Scroll to the bottom and click 'close budget early'.

  • The Tag for the budget is archived

Good to know:

  • Budgets cannot be deleted, they can only be closed.

  • Once the budget has closed it cannot be reopened.


Budget overview & spend allocation

The budget overview gives you a complete summary of all your past, present and future budgets. Each budget gives insights into the total, settled and pending expenses. It also shows the budget reviewers, the budget Tag, date range and more.

Good to know:

  • Admins and extended bookkeepers will see all budgets that have been created. Whereas budget reviewers (if they are not an admin or extended bookkeeper) will only see the budgets they are responsible for.

  • Card and out-of pocket expenses will be allocated to the budget if they have the budget Tag and are within the budget date range.

  • You can remove expenses from the budget by removing the Tag from the expense and changing the expense date to be outside the budget range.

  • The budget progress bar will remain green until the budget goes over 100%.

  • We display settled and pending expenses in the budget overview.

    • Settled expenses = settled card expenses & out-of pocket expenses that have been approved, or do not require review.

    • Pending expenses = pending card expenses & out-of pocket expenses that are awaiting review.


Deleting/Archiving Tags

  • If the Tag has been used for a budget then it cannot be deleted. It can only be archived.

  • If a Tag, connected to an active budget is archived, then the budget will be closed automatically.


FAQs


How does it work for Multi Entity?

  • To begin with Multi Entity customers will have to create a separate budget for each entity. The spend across entities cannot be consolidated.

Can the budget be overspent?

  • Yes, it is not a hard budget. Once the budget has reached 100% the budget reviewer will be notified via email. However, the budget can still be overspent.

Can the budget be closed early?

  • Yes - the budget can be closed early by an admin/extended bookkeeper. They can choose the action ‘Close budget early’.

Can the budget reviewer edit the budget expenses?

  • Yes - the budget reviewer will be able to view, and edit the budget expenses. They cannot review them yet (Approve, Reject, Needs Details).

Are refunds included in the budget?

  • Yes - refunds will be deducted from the budget total, as long as the refund has the budget Tag.

Can the budget be created in a different currency?

  • No, the budget can only be created in the default currency for that entity.

Can a budget be reopened once it has closed?

  • No once a budget has closed, it cannot be reopened.

Can a Budget be deleted?

  • At the moment budgets can only be closed, they cannot be deleted.

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