Tracking Project Financials Through the Project Lifecycle

Project Insight supports budgeting and costing in several ways, depending on how your organization sells, plans, executes, and bills work.

Some teams begin with a proposal and milestone billing. Others start with a top-down project budget. Some teams need detailed planned vs. actual labor and expense tracking, while others need higher-level visibility into budget performance across projects, portfolios, and departments.

Use this guide to understand which Project Insight features support each stage of the financial lifecycle, which approach fits your workflow, and which plan level may be required.

Where should your team start?

If you are new to project budgeting, start with a simple project-level budget, then add planned labor, planned expenses, time tracking, and actuals as your process matures.

If your team already tracks project budgets, use this guide to identify where you can add more financial detail, such as proposal line items, labor and non-labor costs, rate cards, CapEx/OpEx, invoice records, integrations, and portfolio-level reporting.

Not every team needs every budgeting feature right away. The best setup depends on whether your team is trying to start tracking budgets for the first time or improve the granularity of an existing financial workflow.

Start with the workflow you need.

Project budgeting is not one-size-fits-all. The right setup depends on where your financial process begins and how detailed your tracking needs to be.

VIDEO: Watch the project budgeting Power Tutorial

1. If you are selling work, start with proposals.

Use proposals and proposal templates when your team needs to estimate or sell work before it becomes an active project.

This is useful when your workflow begins with a client request, internal estimate, service proposal, statement of work, or priced engagement. Proposals help teams define what will be delivered, estimate the related work, and prepare the financial structure before execution begins

Use proposals when you need to:

• Estimate work before creating a project 
• Prepare pricing or scope for sold work 
• Build repeatable proposal templates 
• Connect proposal planning to project execution 
• Support a smoother handoff from sales to delivery 

Best fit: Teams that need a clear connection between selling, planning, and executing work.

Minimum plan: Business

Related article: How to Work With Proposals and Proposal Templates in Project Insight

Watch this in the tutorial: See how proposals can hold budget detail without forcing your work breakdown structure to match proposal lines exactly.
Timestamp: around 5:55–8:22

2. If you bill by phase or deliverable, use milestone billing.

Use proposals, project budgeting, and invoice records together when billing needs to connect to project stages, deliverables, payment events, or fixed-price agreements.

This is especially helpful for service organizations, consulting teams, agencies, implementation teams, or any group that bills based on progress instead of only at project completion.

Use milestone billing when you need to:

• Bill based on project phases or deliverables 
• Connect proposal amounts to billing milestones 
• Track payment events across the project lifecycle 
• Support clearer visibility between sold work and billed work 
• Keep billing milestones separate from the project work schedule
• Connect deliverables to project tasks

Best fit: Teams that need to connect project delivery milestones with billing expectations.

Minimum plan: Business

Related articles:

• How to Track Fixed Price Billing in Project Insight
• How to Work With Proposals and Proposal Templates in Project Insight
• What Are Invoice Records In Project Insight?
• How Proposals Connect to Milestone Billing in Project Insight
• What is Time and Materials Billing in Project Insight

3. If you already have a fixed amount to work with, use project-level budgeting.

Use project-level budgeting when you know the total budget and need to manage execution against that amount.

This is the top-down approach. Instead of estimating every task or expense in detail first, you can begin with a set budget and compare the work, actuals, and reporting against that financial target.

Use project-level budgeting when you need to:

• Set a total budget for the project 
• Track budget performance at the project level 
• Monitor whether the project is staying within the approved amount 
• Give project leaders a clear financial target 
• Support less granular budgeting when task-level detail is not required 

Best fit: Teams that need budget visibility without building a highly detailed estimate first.

Minimum plan: Pro

Related articles:

• How to Set a Top-Down Project Budget in Project Insight
• How to Use the Portfolio Allocation Budget Report in Project Insight

Watch this in the tutorial: See how to start with a top-down project budget before building every task or cost detail. Timestamp: around 4:20–5:55

4. If you need to plan the work before execution, use planned labor and planned expenses.

Use planned labor and planned expenses when your team needs to estimate the expected cost of project work before the work begins.

This helps create the financial baseline for the project. Planned values make it easier to compare expectations against actual performance once people begin logging time, expenses, and other project activity.

Use planned labor and planned expenses when you need to:

• Estimate labor before execution 
• Plan expected work expenses 
• Compare planned labor to actual time 
• Compare planned expenses to actual costs 
• Understand whether the work is performing as expected 

Best fit: Teams that need more detailed budget planning before execution starts.

Minimum plan: Pro for planned/actual expenses and time tracking. Business for labor and non-labor costs.

Related articles:

• How to Use Burden Rates to Calculate Labor Costs in Project Insight
• How to Add Non-Labor Costs and Billable Expenses to Tasks in Project Insight
• How to Add Work Expense and Work Billable Expense Details in Project Insight
• How to Use the Task Budget Tab in Project Insight
• How to use Rate Cards in Project Insight

Watch this in the tutorial: See how planned labor, resource roles, rate cards, and non-labor work expenses connect to the project plan. Timestamp: around 9:38–16:18

5. If you need to compare the plan to execution, use planned vs. actual tracking.

Use planned vs. actual tracking to understand how project financial performance changes once work begins.

This is where budgeting becomes operational. Instead of looking only at the original plan, teams can compare expected labor, expenses, work values, and financial targets against actual time entries, costs, billable values, and project progress.

Use planned vs. actual tracking when you need to answer:

• Are we performing against the original plan? 
• Are labor costs higher or lower than expected? 
• Are work expenses tracking to budget? 
• Where are actual costs changing? 
• Which parts of the project are creating financial variance? 

Best fit: Teams that need real-time visibility into how execution compares to the original budget.

Minimum plan: Pro

Related articles:

• How to Enter Time for a Task
• How to Add Expenses to a Task/Project
• How to Use the Portfolio Allocation Budget Report in Project Insight
• How to Configure Variance Calculation Fields in Project Insight
• How to Use Work Estimate at Completion and Work Estimate to Complete in Project Insight
• How to Use Planned Value and Earned Value in Project Insight
• How to Use the Task Budget Tab in Project Insight

Watch this in the tutorial: See how planned values compare to actual time entries, expense costs, and total work values. Timestamp: around 19:14–23:39

6. If your team logs time, use time tracking and timesheets.

Use time tracking and timesheets to capture actual labor as work is completed.

Time entries help Project Insight connect the work being done to the project budget. This makes it easier to see actual labor effort, compare that effort to planned labor, and understand how time impacts budget performance.

Use time tracking when you need to:

• Capture actual labor effort 
• Track work by project, task, or person 
• Support billable and non-billable visibility 
• Compare planned labor to actual time 
• Feed actual labor data into budget reporting 

Best fit: Teams that need actual labor data tied to project and task execution.

Minimum plan: Pro

Related articles:

• Time Tracking and Timesheets
• How to Use Burden Rates to Calculate Labor Costs in Project Insight
• Who Can See Actual Hours, Billable Hours, And Financial Data In Project Insight

Watch this in the tutorial: See how actual labor costs can update from time entries and flow into real-time budget reporting. Timestamp: around 20:43–21:23

7. If your team tracks non-labor costs, use expenses and expense reports.

Use expenses and expense reports to capture work-related costs outside of labor.

This may include travel, materials, purchases, contractor costs, field expenses, or other non-labor items that need to be connected to the project budget.

Use expenses and expense reports when you need to:

• Track non-labor project costs 
• Submit and review project expenses 
• Capture actual costs during execution 
• Compare planned expenses to actual expenses 
• Maintain a more complete financial picture of the project 

Best fit: Teams that need to track more than labor costs alone.

Minimum plan: Pro

Related articles:

• Expenses and Expense Reports
• How Project Costing Works in Project Insight
• How to Add Non-Labor Costs and Billable Expenses to Tasks in Project Insight
• How to Add Work Expense and Work Billable Expense Details in Project Insight

Watch this in the tutorial: See how planned non-labor expenses can be added to tasks and spread across the project schedule. Timestamp: around 12:39–16:18

8. If finance needs cost classification, use CapEx and OpEx.

Use CapEx and OpEx classification when project costs need to be separated for financial reporting.

This is useful when leadership or finance needs to understand which costs should be treated as capital expenditures and which should be treated as operating expenses.

Use CapEx and OpEx when you need to:

• Classify project costs by financial category 
• Support finance reporting requirements 
• Separate capitalized work from operating costs 
• Improve visibility into where money is going 
• Report costs in a way leadership and finance can use 

Best fit: Organizations that need project financials aligned with finance and accounting categories.

Minimum plan: Enterprise

Related article:

• Tracking CapEx and OpEx in Project Insight
• Understanding CapEx and OpEx in Project Management

Watch this in the tutorial: See how CapEx and OpEx can be tracked at a high level or with task-level detail, then reported by month. Timestamp: around 16:54–19:06

9. If you need to compare execution options, use AI-assisted what-if simulations.

Use AI-assisted what-if simulations when your team needs to compare different ways to execute the work before deciding which path to take.

This helps teams evaluate the effect of changes before committing to them. For example, you may want to understand what happens if the schedule changes, costs increase, duration shifts, or resources are adjusted.

Use what-if simulations when you need to:

• Compare execution options 
• Evaluate budget impact before making changes 
• Understand duration and schedule tradeoffs 
• Model different cost scenarios 
• Support better decision-making before committing to a plan 

Best fit: Teams that need to forecast financial and schedule impact before project changes are made.

Minimum plan: Enterprise

Related article:

• AI-Assisted What-If Simulations

Watch this in the tutorial: See how what-if simulations compare different execution options by budget, duration, and project impact before changes are committed. Timestamp: around 26:27–28:43

10. If you need to connect financials to billing, use invoice records and billing.

Use invoice records and billing when project financials need to connect to customer billing activity.

Invoice records help teams track billing details alongside the work being performed. This creates a clearer connection between proposal planning, project execution, approved time and expenses, and billing.

Use invoice records and billing when you need to:

• Track billing activity related to project work 
• Connect approved time and expenses to invoicing 
• Support milestone or project-based billing 
• Improve visibility between delivery and billing 
• Help finance understand what has been billed against the work 

Best fit: Teams that need visibility across project delivery and billing.

Minimum plan: Business

Related articles:

• Invoice Records
• How to Track Fixed Price Billing in Project Insight
• How to Work With Proposals and Proposal Templates in Project Insight
• Tracking Project Financials from Budget to Payment

Watch this in the tutorial: See where proposed values, budget totals, work totals, realized amounts, and invoiced amounts appear together on the project overview. Timestamp: around 2:37–3:50

11. If you need accounting or system integration, connect your financial systems.

Use Project Insight integrations when project financial data needs to connect to accounting, ERP, CRM, service, or development systems.

For example, teams may connect project financial workflows with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Deltek, Ajera, NetSuite, Salesforce, Jira, Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, or other tools through available integrations and API workflows.

Use integrations when you need to:

• Reduce duplicate data entry 
• Connect project financials to accounting 
• Bring time, work, or cost data into Project Insight 
• Push billing or financial data to another system 
• Support a connected sell-work-bill workflow 

Best fit: Teams that need project financials to work across multiple business systems.

Minimum plan: Business for QuickBooks Online and REST API access. Enterprise for advanced integrations such as Jira, Azure DevOps, Salesforce, ServiceNow, QuickBooks Desktop, and others.

Related article:

• Invoice Records

Which Project Insight plan do I need?

Different budgeting and costing workflows may require different Project Insight plans. Use this table to identify which plan level supports the feature area you want to use.

Watch this in the tutorial: See how actuals can come from Project Insight, outside systems, integrations, or the API. Timestamp: around 21:23–22:12

To try free or to see Pricing Options for Project Insight click here

Recommended setup paths

Path 1: Proposal-to-project budgeting 

Refer to Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11 above

Use this path if your team sells or estimates work before it becomes a project.

Recommended features:

1. Proposals and proposal templates 
2. Milestone billing 
3. Project-level budgeting 
4. Planned labor and planned expenses 
5. Time tracking and expenses 
6. Invoice records and billing 
7. Accounting integration, if needed 

Best for: Professional services, consulting, implementation teams, agencies, and teams that manage sold work.

Path 2: Top-down project budgeting

Refer to Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 above

Use this path if your team starts with an approved budget and needs to manage delivery within that amount.

Recommended features:

1. Project-level budgeting 
2. Planned labor and work expenses, if needed 
3. Time tracking and expense reports 
4. Planned vs. actual reporting 
5. Budget dashboards and reports 

Best for: Internal teams, PMOs, departments, and organizations that manage fixed project budgets.

Path 3: Detailed planned vs. actual cost tracking

Refer to Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 above

Use this path if your team needs deeper cost visibility during execution.

Recommended features:

1. Planned labor 
2. Planned expenses 
3. Time tracking and timesheets 
4. Expense reports 
5. Labor and non-labor cost tracking 
6. CapEx and OpEx classification, if needed 
7. Budget performance reporting 

Best for: Teams that need to compare original estimates to actual project performance.

Path 4: Forecasting and scenario planning

Refer to Sections 3, 4, 9 above

Use this path if your team needs to evaluate multiple execution options before making a decision.

Recommended features:

1. Project budgets 
2. Planned labor and expenses 
3. Resource and capacity inputs 
4. AI-assisted what-if simulations 
5. Executive reporting 
6. Scenario comparison by cost, duration, and impact 

Best for: Leadership teams, PMOs, and project teams that need to understand tradeoffs before changing the plan.

Summary

Project Insight helps teams connect the financial plan to the actual work being done.

Depending on your workflow, you can start with proposals, project-level budgets, planned labor and expenses, or actual time and cost tracking. As work moves forward, Project Insight helps teams compare the original plan to actual performance, classify costs, connect billing, and evaluate what-if scenarios before making project changes.

The result is a clearer financial picture across the project lifecycle, from sold work and planning through execution, billing, and reporting.