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Use the Budget Line Items table in the budget editor to enter planned costs, set how often they bill, and mark each line Pending, Approved, Rejected or Draft. This guide is for MSP staff and for company users whose MSP has given them budget write access.

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Before you start

  • You need the write_budgets or manage_budgets permission. Deleting a saved line needs manage_budgets.
  • Changing a line’s Approval status also needs the Approve budget items permission. Manage access includes it; Write access alone does not.
  • The budget must be Draft or Pending Approval. Approved and Archived budgets are locked.
  • Read-only users can read the budget and ask their MSP for changes.
A new blank row keeps its Item and Category controls. Enter the description under Item and choose Category, then confirm the row and use the budget’s Save action. A manual budget row with Item, Category and Billing controls visible. On smaller desktop panels, scroll the line-items table sideways to reach later columns such as Approval. The Item and Actions controls remain pinned. On a phone, each line uses a card with labeled fields.

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Add a manual cost

1

Open an editable budget

Click Create New Budget, or click … then Edit on a Draft or Pending Approval budget.
2

Click Add Item

Click Add Item above the table. A new row opens for editing.
3

Describe the cost

Type a clear name in the Description box. Optionally open the Link to Planner Item or Goal list and pick one, and add Notes (optional). Choose None in the list to leave it unlinked.
4

Choose a category

Pick a category in the Category column, or leave it on None.
5

Set quantity and price

Type the Qty as a whole number above zero, and the Unit Price for one unit. Line Total updates to quantity times unit price. For example, five workstations at 1,200 USD give 6,000 USD. A unit price of zero shows as blank.
6

Set the billing schedule

In the Billing column, choose the recurrence and a start month. For Custom, type the number of months in Every N months, from 1 to 60. Use One-time for a single purchase.Budget line Recurrence menu offering One-time, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual and Custom.
7

Close the row

Click the check mark (Confirm line item edits) in the Actions column. Press the down arrow key to move to the next row, or to add a new row after the last one.
8

Save

Click Save and wait for Budget saved successfully. Then check the budget and Monthly Breakdown.

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Billing choices

Line Total is quantity times unit price for one charge. It does not add up the charges across the year. Ten licenses at 20 USD show 200 USD. A full year of monthly charges is 2,400 USD, which you see in Monthly Breakdown. Changing the budget’s Period Type does not change a line’s billing.

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Edit a line

1

Open the line menu

Click the pencil button in the line’s Actions column.
2

Click Edit

Click Edit. The row opens with all its fields. Or double-click a description, category, billing, quantity or unit price cell to change only that field. Press Enter to finish a cell and Escape to cancel.
3

Save

Click the check mark, then click Save at the top of the page.
The same menu has Move Up and Move Down to reorder the lines in the table, and Delete.

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Remove a line

Click the pencil button then Delete, or click the trash icon while the row is open. Then click Save. Removing a line you have not saved just drops it. Deleting a saved line needs manage_budgets, and the Delete item is missing without it. Open the row, open Link to Planner Item or Goal, choose None, and click Save. The Planner item or goal itself is not deleted.

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Change a line’s Approval status

The Approval column holds a list with Pending, Approved, Rejected and Draft. This is the line’s own status. It is separate from the budget’s Status. The list needs the Approve budget items permission. Without it, the column shows the status read-only. People with Approve budget items but no budget write access decide lines from the budget’s View page while the budget is Pending Approval. See Approve or reject budget lines.
On a line that is already saved, choosing a value saves it at once and shows Status updated. You do not need to click Save. On a new line you have not saved, the value is stored with the first Save.

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Change several line statuses at once

1

Open Update Statuses

In the Budgets list, click … on the budget’s row, then click Update Statuses. The item appears only when you can change line statuses on that budget. On an Approved budget the item reads Update Statuses (Locked) and is unavailable.
2

Set the statuses

The Update Item Statuses dialog lists every line with its quantity and total. Pick Pending, Approved, Rejected or Draft for each one.
3

Save

Click Save Changes. A message such as Updated 3 items appears. This saves right away.
Approving a line does not approve or lock the whole budget. Once the budget is Approved or Archived, line statuses cannot change. See Approve and lock a budget.

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Troubleshooting

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Frequently asked questions

Click Add Item, type the cost and billing, and click Save.
No. It only closes the row. Click Save to store your changes.
Set Recurrence to Quarterly and the start month to Apr, then Save. Monthly Breakdown shows April, July and October.
No. The line stays in the budget. A rejected line is left out of the Budgets list Total but counts in the Overview Total and in Monthly Breakdown.
No. Duplicate the budget and change the Draft copy.
No. They change the MSPortal budget only.