Budgets & Clients

Budgets your clients
can trust.

Give every client a budget, let logged hours count against it automatically, and hand over printable budget-vs-actual reports, no spreadsheet reconciliation, no surprises.

Get Started
Budget 72% used · Acme Co. Budget activated · Q3 retainer 4h logged · counts to budget Report printed · for client New client · Northwind LLC
Screenshot, Budgets overview with progress bars
Mobile, budget status
Live Budget vs. actual, never reconstructed
Per client Budgets tied to real clients & projects
Printable Reports your clients can hold
How it works

One budget, from kickoff to invoice.

Follow a client engagement through Claritask, from the first estimate to the final report.

claritask · Clients
Screenshot, Adding a client
01

Add the client

Every workspace keeps its own client list. Add the client once and they're available for budgets, projects, and reports from then on.

Screenshot, New budget form with client & project
02

Create the budget

Name it, set the total, and tie it to the client and the project it covers. Company-wide budget defaults keep new budgets consistent.

Screenshot, Activating the budget
03

Activate it

Flip the budget to active and tracking begins. Only active budgets accumulate hours, so retainers and phases stay cleanly separated.

Screenshot, Hours flowing into the budget
04

Work counts itself

As your team logs time on the project's tasks, the hours count against the budget automatically. Nobody fills in a second system.

Screenshot, Budget vs actual view
05

Watch budget vs. actual

The budget view shows spend against total in real time. Overruns surface while there's still time to talk to the client, not after.

Screenshot, Printable budget report
06

Hand over the report

Print or export a clean budget report, what was budgeted, what was spent, on what, and attach it to the invoice. Trust, documented.

Built for client work

Made for teams that bill for their time.

If hours become invoices in your business, budgets keep both sides of the relationship honest.

Agencies

Run every retainer and project budget side by side, per client, with monthly reports built in.

Dev shops & studios

Estimates on sprints, actuals from logged time, budgets per engagement, one chain of truth.

Consultancies

Phase-based budgets with clean handover reports at every milestone, clients see exactly what they paid for.

Internal teams

Treat departments as clients and track effort against internal budgets, great for cost allocation.

Everything in one place

Everything you need to manage client money.

Clients, budgets, tracking, and reporting, connected to the tasks the money pays for.

Clients

Client management

A simple client roster per workspace, every client connects to their budgets, projects, and history, so "what's the story with Acme?" has a one-screen answer.

  • Client list per workspace
  • Budgets grouped under each client
  • Project associations at a glance
  • Full budget history per client
  • Add a client in seconds
Screenshot, Clients list
Budgets

Project budgets

Each budget has a name, a total, a client, and a project, and a switch that turns tracking on. Hours logged on the project count against it automatically.

  • Budgets tied to client + project
  • Activate / deactivate to control tracking
  • Hours flow in from task time logs
  • Live spend against total
  • Multiple budgets per client
Screenshot, Budget detail with progress
Consistency

Budget defaults

Set company-wide defaults once, and every new budget starts from the same baseline. Less setup per engagement, more consistency across the books.

  • Company-level default settings
  • Consistent setup across workspaces
  • Faster budget creation
  • Override per budget when needed
  • Fewer "wait, how did we set that up?" moments
Screenshot, Budget defaults settings
Reporting

Budget reports

Budget vs. actual in a clean, printable layout, what was budgeted, what was spent, broken down by the work that consumed it. Attach it to the invoice and skip the awkward call.

  • Printable budget-vs-actual reports
  • Breakdown by tasks and time
  • PDF export for email handoff
  • Point-in-time snapshots for milestones
  • Pairs with timesheet exports
Screenshot, Printable budget report
Transparency

Client access, scoped

Want clients in the loop without opening the whole shop? Invite them with the Client role, they see their projects and progress, and nothing else.

  • Dedicated Client role
  • Scoped to their own projects
  • No internal chatter exposed
  • Clients comment where it helps
  • Or keep it report-only, your choice
Screenshot, Client-role view of a project

Never have the "where did the hours go?" call again.

Budgets that track themselves, and reports your clients actually believe.