> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.msportal.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Arrange budget sections
> Choose the category order in a budget overview and its PDF and Excel documents.
**Audience:** MSP staff and Company users with budget editing access. The MSP manages Company user permissions. The screenshot shows the staff save control.
## Before you start
Open an existing **Draft** or **Pending Approval** budget that contains at least two category sections. You need budget editing permission. **Section order** is unavailable for locked budgets and budgets with fewer than two sections.
A section groups line items by category. Items without a category appear under **Uncategorized**. Only categories with items appear in the ordering dialog.
## Choose and save the order
1. Open **Budgets**, find the plan and choose its row **... > View**.
2. Open the Budget Details header **... > Section order**.
3. Move a category using its up or down arrow. You can also drag its handle on the left. The first row cannot move up; the last row cannot move down.
4. Review the complete order. Each row shows the category, item count and amount.
5. Choose **Save order** and wait for the dialog to close successfully.
6. Check **Overview**. Reopen the budget if needed to confirm the saved order before exporting.
**Save order** persists this budget's section order immediately. It does not require a later Save in the budget editor. Choose **Cancel** before saving to discard the proposed arrangement. To change a saved order, reopen the dialog, move the categories and save again.
## Where the order applies
| Place | Effect |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Overview** | Category groups follow the saved order. |
| **Export PDF** and **Export Excel** | Newly generated documents use the saved category order. Existing downloaded files do not change. |
| **Monthly Breakdown** | Uses its own category ordering; it does not follow Section order. |
| Other budgets | Keep their own order. This is not a company-wide preference. |
Section ordering moves whole groups. It does not rearrange individual items within a group, change an item's category, rename a category, approve a line or change prices, quantities, recurrence or monthly overrides. Use [line-item editing](/user-guides/budgets/edit-line-items) for those separate tasks.
The amounts in the ordering dialog sum quantity × unit price for all items in each category, including rejected lines. They are not an annual projection of recurring charges. Use [Monthly Breakdown](/user-guides/budgets/read-monthly-breakdown) to understand the scheduled costs.
If you later add a category that was not in the saved order, it appears after the ordered categories. Reopen Section order to place it where you want. A category with no remaining items is absent from the view.
## Troubleshooting
If **Section order** is missing, check that you opened **View**, that the budget is Draft or Pending Approval, that it contains more than one section and that your role has editing access. Company users should ask their MSP about access.
If saving fails, keep the budget open and check the result before relying on the arrangement. Reopen the dialog after a successful save or reload the reader to confirm persistence. A reordered dialog alone does not prove the order was saved.
See [Read a budget overview](/user-guides/budgets/read-budget) and [Download or print a budget](/user-guides/budgets/export-and-print-budgets) for the surrounding workflows.
## FAQs
Open the budget with View, then use the Budget Details header's three-dot menu and choose Section order.
It requires budget editing access, a Draft or Pending Approval budget and at least two populated sections. Check that you are in the budget reader. Your MSP manages Company permissions.
A Company user needs editing access granted by the MSP. Seeing a budget does not by itself grant permission to change its section order.
No. Save order persists the arrangement separately. Wait for success and confirm it in the reader.
No. Cancel discards the current unsaved arrangement. To change a previously saved order, move the sections again and choose Save order.
No. It moves category groups. It does not rearrange individual items inside a group or change their categories.
Newly generated budget PDF and Excel documents use the saved section order. Download them again after saving; an existing file is unchanged.
Monthly Breakdown has its own category ordering and does not use the saved Section order arrangement.
No. The saved order belongs to this budget. Other existing budgets retain their own arrangements.
Categories that were not in the saved order appear after the ordered categories. Reopen Section order, move the new category and save.
It groups items without a category. Assign the appropriate category through line-item editing if they should belong elsewhere.
No. It sums quantity times unit price, including rejected items. Section ordering changes no costs or statuses; use Monthly Breakdown for scheduled charges.