Budget planning and tracking with ActivityTimeline Finances

Project Budget Management for Jira That Sees the Overrun Coming

Set a budget for any Jira project, epic or saved filter. ActivityTimeline tracks spend from worklogs, salaries and expenses and forecasts where it will land, so a December overrun shows up in November.

Budgets per Jira project, epic or saved filter

A forecast to the last day, with the overrun date

Allocations by team function, vendor or epic

Revenue and margin next to the budget

Try it on your own Jira data

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The self-service portal, an internal project in the Jira project PORTAL, gets a budget of $140,000 for October to December 2026. By 13 November, $74,050 is spent: 52.9% of the budget, with only 37.0% of the tasks done. The forecast to the end of the budget is $153,050, so the budget runs out on 21 December and ends $13,050 over. The budget owner sees it five weeks early.

One budget, three moments. The overrun shows up in November, not at the year-end close. Sample data.

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Three numbers every budget owner watches

What Is Project Budget Management in Jira?

Project budget management in Jira comes down to three numbers: what you can spend, what is already spent, and where spend will land. ActivityTimeline tracks all three from worklogs, salaries and expenses, so an overrun shows up while there is still time to act.

Budget

$140,000approved for Q4

Spent so far

$74,05052.9% of the budget, by 13 Nov

Forecast

$153,050$13,050 over, by 31 Dec

Sample numbers from one internal project, used in every screen on this page.

Six questions a sponsor or finance asks the budget owner, each answered from one sample budget: $65,950 of the $140,000 portal budget is left; the forecast says it ends $13,050 over; spend is 15.9 points ahead of task progress; Vendors and contractors used 120.0% of its allocation; the fixed-price Loyalty app forecasts a 30.2% margin; one of four budgets in the portfolio is critical.

What You Can Do with Project Budget Tracking in ActivityTimeline

Twelve things budget owners, project managers and PMOs use to keep a budget on track.

A budget for any scope

Budget one Jira project, a few epics, or a saved filter across projects.

Budget milestones

Release funding in stages, so the budget steps up on the dates you set.

Budgets from estimates

Build the budget bottom-up from the original estimates of the work in scope.

Phases and ongoing budgets

Budget a project by quarter or phase, or run a budget with no end date.

Budget allocations

Give each function, such as development, QA or vendors, its share of the budget.

Budget vs spend

See which allocation is on track, fully spent or over, and by how much.

Remaining budget, live

See what's left today, updated as your team logs time in Jira.

Spend vs progress

Put spend next to task and estimate progress to catch a fast burn.

Budget forecast

See where spend will land by the end of the budget, and the day it crosses.

Planned expenses and payments

Add invoices, licences and contract payments ahead of time, once or monthly.

Revenue and profit forecast

Track what client work will earn next to what it may spend.

Budget portfolios

Line up every budget, flag the ones drifting, and total them in one currency.

How to Plan and Track a Project Budget in ActivityTimeline

Five steps from the budget owner's side, on one sample company: an internal portal project, a fixed-price client app, and a portfolio of four budgets.

Step 1 · Set the budget

Create a Budget for Any Jira Project, Epic or Filter

Draw a line around the work, give it a period and set the amount. One Jira project can carry several budgets, by phase or by quarter.

What it covers

Jira projects, epics, or a saved filter across projects.

How much

A fixed amount, funding released in milestones, or a total built from estimates.

For how long

A quarter, a phase, or no end date for ongoing work.

Create your first budget in a free trial

Creating the self-service portal budget for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Scope can be the Jira project PORTAL (92 issues), two epics (38 issues) or a saved filter across PORTAL and OPS (57 issues). The amount can be a fixed $140,000, milestones of $60,000 from 1 October, $45,000 from 1 November and $35,000 from 1 December ($105,000 available on 13 November), or a budget built from the original estimates: 1,720 hours for the whole project gives $137,600.

Budget vs Spend for the self-service portal, grouped by category, on 13 November 2026. Development: $70,000 allocated, $29,450 spent, 42.1% used. QA and testing: $25,000, $12,400 spent, 49.6%. Design: $24,000, $12,400 spent, 51.7%. Vendors and contractors: $14,000 allocated, $16,800 spent, 120.0% used, $2,800 over. Unallocated spend: $3,000 for tools. $7,000 (5%) is kept as a reserve. Moving the reserve to Vendors and contractors brings it to $21,000 and 80.0% used.

Step 2 · Split it

Split the Budget into Allocations and Track Each One

Split the budget the way the company works: development, QA, design, vendors. Budget vs Spend shows which share is on track, fully spent or over.

Allocations

By category (development, QA, vendors), epic, project or person.

Over budget in red

With the amount it went over.

Unallocated spend

Costs with no allocation show on their own, so nothing hides.

See allocations on your own Jira data in a demo

Step 3 · Forecast

Forecast Where the Budget Will Land

Every budget shows a forecast to its end, next to the budget line. When the two cross, you see the date and the amount.

Remaining budget

What's left today.

Forecasted spend

Where spend ends up by the last day.

Progress side by side

Estimate, task and spend progress in one row.

Get a forecast for your projects in a live demo

Summary of the self-service portal budget on 13 November 2026: Current Budget $140,000, Remaining Budget $65,950, Actual Spend $74,050, Forecasted Spend $153,050. The forecast crosses the budget line on 21 December. Moving the $9,500 security audit to January leaves it $3,550 over. Also paying the contractor's second $12,000 in January brings the forecast to $131,550, with $8,450 to spare. A $15,000 budget milestone from 1 December alone lets the budget hold with $1,950 to spare.

Summary of Harbor Retail · Loyalty app, a fixed-price project, on 13 November 2026. Current Budget $90,000, Remaining Budget $46,250, Actual Spend $43,750, Forecasted Spend $83,750, Actual Revenue $40,000, Forecasted Revenue $120,000 from three contract payments. Forecasted profit $36,250, a 30.2% margin. Billing the $3,200 workshop travel back to the client raises forecasted revenue to $123,200 and the margin to 32.0%; the budget numbers don't change. An extra $2,400 of test devices lowers the remaining budget to $43,850 and the margin.

Step 4 · Plan revenue

Plan Revenue and Profit Next to the Budget

Some budgets earn money back: a contract payment, billable hours, an expense the client pays back. Revenue shows next to the budget as profit. It never raises the budget.

Internal work

Track spend only.

Fixed price

Revenue comes from contract payments, not hours.

Time and materials

Billable hours plus any payments.

Cost tracking and margin

Step 5 · All budgets

Track Every Project Budget in One Portfolio

Put your budgets side by side in one currency. A health number compares money spent with time elapsed or tasks done, and flags the budget that drifts.

Healthy, At Risk or Critical

With the bands you choose.

Two ways to compare

Budget spent vs time elapsed, or vs tasks done.

One total

Budgets in other currencies convert at your rate.

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Portfolio Digital delivery 2026 on 13 November 2026: four budgets, $560,000 in total, $317,900 spent. Comparing budget spent with time elapsed, the portfolio is Healthy at +9.6, yet CRM migration is Critical at +27.4: 84.5% of its budget is spent with 57.1% of its time gone. Comparing budget spent with tasks done, the portfolio is At Risk at +18.8, and the self-service portal moves from Healthy (+5.1) to At Risk (+15.9).

Bring the budget you're worried about. See where it lands.

In a demo, a product specialist sets up a budget like yours, with allocations and a forecast, and answers your finance and security questions.

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Budget Planning vs Cost Tracking in ActivityTimeline

Both run on the same Finances numbers. Budget planning looks at the limit and where you will land. Cost tracking looks at what the work cost and earned.

You are here · Budget planning and tracking

How much can we spend, and where will we land?

A budget per project, epic or filter: fixed, in milestones or from estimates

Budget allocations, and budget vs spend for each of them

Remaining budget and a forecast to the end of the budget

Revenue and profit next to the budget, and every budget's health in one portfolio

Cost tracking and cost management

What did the work cost, and what did it earn?

Cost from logged hours, monthly salaries and expenses

Where the money goes: by category, epic or person

Revenue, profit and margin per project and client

A line-by-line ledger for finance, invoices and audits

See cost tracking

Built with

Finances

Budgets, allocations, forecasts and portfolios.

Open Finances →

Timesheets

The reviewed hours behind every dollar spent.

Open Timesheets →

Planner

Who works on the budgeted work, and when.

Open Planner →

Guides on Project Budgets in Jira

How-tos for Jira on its own and longer scenarios live in the blog and the Help Center.

Guide

Jira budget tracking

What Jira tracks on its own, where it stops, and how teams add budgets.

Read the guide

Guide

Jira cost management

What Jira tracks on cost, and how teams add rates, cost and margin.

Read the guide

Help Center

Reading a budget's Summary

Remaining budget, forecasted spend and the three progress bars.

Open the Help Center

Help Center

Budget portfolios

Several budgets in one view, with the Health Spread Number.

Open the Help Center

Project Budget Management in Jira: FAQ

Answers about budgets, allocations, forecasts and portfolios in ActivityTimeline Finances.

Still have a question?

How do you create a project budget in ActivityTimeline?

Create a budget, give it a time period and choose what it covers: one or more Jira projects, epics, or a saved Jira filter. Then set the amount: a fixed amount, a fixed amount released in milestones, or a total built from the original estimates of the work in scope. One Jira project can have several budgets, for example one per phase or quarter.

How do we know whether a budget will be met?

Each budget shows actual spend, remaining budget and a forecast to the end of the budget, next to the budget line. When the forecast passes the budget, you see the date and the amount while there is still time to act. Spend progress next to task progress shows when money goes faster than the work.

What is the difference between remaining budget and forecasted spend?

Remaining budget is the budget minus what has been spent so far. Forecasted spend is where spend will be at the end of the budget. A budget can have money left today and still be on course to run over.

Can we split a budget between epics, teams or types of work?

Yes. Budget allocations give a share of the budget to each category, such as development, QA or vendors, or to each epic, project, component or person. Budget vs Spend shows each share as on track, fully spent or over budget, and shows spend with no allocation on its own.

Does revenue count toward the budget?

No. A budget is a limit on spend. Revenue, such as billable hours, contract payments or expenses billed back to a client, shows next to the budget as forecasted revenue and profit. It never raises the budget; to give a project more money, change the budget or add a budget milestone.

Can we plan expenses and payments before they happen?

Yes. Add expenses and revenue with a future date, once or every month: a vendor invoice next month, licences, a contract payment at sign-off. The budget then shows what is coming, not only what has been paid.

Does it work for internal projects with no revenue?

Yes. Internal budgets track spend only, from logged hours, monthly salaries and expenses. For ongoing work such as platform upkeep, a budget can run with no end date.

Can we see the health of all project budgets in one place?

Yes. A portfolio lines up your budgets side by side, converted into one currency. A Health Spread Number compares budget spent with time elapsed or with tasks done, and marks each budget Healthy, At Risk or Critical within the bands you set.

What is the difference between budget planning and cost tracking?

Budget planning sets how much you can spend, splits it into allocations and forecasts where you will land. Cost tracking answers what the work cost, where the money went and what it earned. Both use the same numbers in ActivityTimeline Finances.

How do we try it?

Start a 30-day free trial from the Atlassian Marketplace; the trial includes Finances and needs no credit card. Or schedule a demo, and a product specialist sets up a budget and forecast like yours.

Know Whether Every Jira Project Budget Will Hold

Create a budget for one project and see its forecast on your own Jira work. 30-day free trial with Finances, no credit card.

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