Budget management in Stampli's capability gives you real-time visibility and control over organizational spending, allowing you to make informed decisions before approving purchases.
What is budget management in Stampli?
Stampli offers a comprehensive budget management system that provides accurate, real-time visibility into fund availability to support purchase requests. It offers automatic spending controls and proactive notifications for better decision-making.
This feature transforms budget oversight from a reactive, manual process into a proactive, automated system that prevents overspending.
Who should use budgets?
This feature is particularly valuable for:
Finance and procurement teams
Functional managers
Department heads
Budget owners
How budgets work in Stampli
Stampli's Budget Management system functions as an integrated financial control platform:
Budget definition: Create departmental or project-based budgets with specific amounts and time periods
Budget assignment: Budget lines can be automatically assigned according to user-defined rules or manually selected for each request line as needed
Spending controls: Enforce configurable spending caps independent of available budget
Approval visibility: See the immediate impact of purchase requests on budgets before approval
Approval blocking: Finance teams can prevent approvals for over-budget or unnecessary requests
Budget owner notifications: Budget owners automatically receive alerts when funds fall below specified thresholds
Budget tracking: Maintain real-time comparison of budgets versus actual spending
Key capabilities
Our Budget Management system includes several powerful capabilities:
Budget previews: See the immediate impact of purchase requests on budgets before approval, allowing you to make informed decisions based on real-time data.
Budget creation: Create flexible budgets based on department or project-specific requirements, or import existing budgets via CSV for easy setup.
Budget assignment: Automatically assign budget lines according to user-defined rules based on department association or specific project requirements.
Spending limits: Enforce configurable spending caps independent of available budget at various organizational levels.
Approval blocking: Prevent approvals for over-budget or unnecessary requests to maintain financial control across your organization.
Budget owner notifications: Receive automatic alerts when funds fall below specified thresholds to stay informed without manual checking.
Budget tracking: Maintain real-time comparison of budgets versus actual spending to get accurate insights into financial performance.
Frequently asked questions
How do budgets differ from spending limits?
Budgets and spending limits serve different purposes in our budget management system:
Budgets represent the allocated funds for a specific department, project, or purpose over a defined time period. They track the total available funds and help you monitor actual spending against planned spending. Budgets answer the question: "How much money has been allocated for this purpose?"
Spending limits are configurable caps that can be enforced independently of available budget. They provide an additional layer of control that can restrict spending even when budget funds are available. Spending limits answer the question: "What's the maximum amount allowed for this type of purchase?"
The two work together to provide comprehensive financial control:
Budgets ensure you're tracking against your overall financial plan
Spending limits provide transaction-level controls regardless of available budget
Can I use spending limits without creating budgets?
Yes, you can implement spending limits independently if you want to enforce maximum transaction amounts without tracking against allocated budgets. This approach is useful for organizations that want simple spending controls without full budget management.
Related articles
Configuring spending limits and notifications