Budget Units

Budget Units define the types of measurement used in a budget. These units are applied in the Units column of budget detail lines or in other elements like Tax & Fringe, Incentives, or Universals setup. You can use the system’s default Budget Units or create your own custom units as needed.

Budget Units work together with the Amount field to indicate the type of element being measured — for example, 20 days, 200 feet, or 50 TB.

The Budget Units screen in Element Manager is initially populated based on the selections made during Budget Builder setup. Once the budget is created, you can add, edit, and manage units directly from this screen.

Working with Budget Units

Once a unit is defined, it can be quickly added to any Unit field by typing the unit name or selecting it from the corresponding drop-down menu.

Many time-based units, such as Days or Weeks, have an equivalent time-based value, which the system uses to calculate amounts based on the units applied. Learn how to set these time-based values in Preferences > Core Data.

The system also recognizes singular and plural forms of units and will display the correct term when the quantity is 0 or greater than 1.

Figure: Example of Budget Units in the Details level of the budget

Budget Units are included by default in every budget:

• System Budget Units cannot be deleted.
• They are optional to use, depending on your workflow.

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Group Manager

The Group Manager lets you organize elements into custom groups for better structure and reuse. You can save groups to your Element Library, and import individual elements or entire groups from the library into your budget as needed.

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Budget Units Table

Budget Units can be created, edited, or removed from the Budget Units table.

Adding a New Budget Unit

1. Press the Add button at the bottom of the table.
2. A new Budget Unit is automatically assigned a default name (e.g., Unit1). Custom Budget Units follow this naming pattern: Unit1, Unit2, Unit3, etc.
3. Update the new Budget Unit with a custom name.
4. Enter a Singular Name (e.g., Day, Terabyte).
5. Enter a Plural Name (e.g., Days, Terabytes).

Editing a Budget Unit

• Click into any cell to update the data. Changes are saved automatically when you click out of the cell.
• System default Budget Units cannot be edited.

Table Column Details

Column	Description	Data Type
Order	Drag the handle icon to reorder items in the table.	Draggable Icon
Unit Name	Set the name of the budget unit for use in the budget. Default budget units can not be renamed.	Text
Singular	The singular form of the budget unit (e.g., day). This field is optional.	Text
Plural	The plural form of the budget unit (e.g., days). This field is optional.	Text
Labor	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Labor lines assigned to this budget unit in the budget.	Numerical
Purchase	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Purchase lines assigned to this budget unit in the budget.	Numerical
Rentals	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Rental lines assigned to this budget unit in the budget.	Numerical
Allowance	Displays the overall real-time total value of all Allowance lines assigned to this budget unit in the budget.	Numerical
Total	Displays the overall real-time total value of all lines assigned to this budget unit in the budget.	Numerical
In Use Lines	Displays the number of budget lines assigned to this budget unit. Clicking the report icon generates a detailed breakdown.	Numerical
Options (Three-Dot Icon)	Opens a dropdown menu with additional actions for the selected budget unit, including renaming and deleting.	Dropdown

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Options Menu

Clicking the three-dot icon in the Options menu reveals additional actions available for the selected element.

• Copy to Library - copies the selected Budget Unit to the Element Library.
• Rename - renames the selected Budget Units.
• Delete - deletes the selected Budget Units from the budget.

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Deleting a Budget Unit

Rules: System default Budget Units cannot be deleted.

• Behavior:
  • When deleting a custom Budget Unit that is not in use on any lines in the budget, it is deleted immediately.
  • If the Budget Unit is in use, the user is prompted with a confirmation warning.

• If the user chooses to continue with deletion:
  • The Budget Unit is removed from the budget.
  • All lines that previously used that Budget Unit are reset to blank in the Budget Unit column in the details level.