Finance & Control

Paid add-on

Office Budget Requests

Request company operating funds, review and approve amounts per line, create one or more controlled Budget Releases, and track actual spending and settlement without mixing office overhead into project cost.

Structured office requests

Request operating funds with clear purposes, line items, amounts, notes, and supporting information

Controlled approval

Admins review each line and may approve a different amount from what was requested

Linked fund release

Approved requests create a ceiling for one or more Budget Releases. Actual spending and settlement remain in the linked finance workflow

Overview

Office Budget Requests provides a structured workflow for company operating budgets such as office supplies, utilities, administrative needs, approved executive expenses, and other legitimate overhead.

It separates the requested amount, the approved amount, the amount actually released, the amount spent, the amount returned, and the final settlement condition.

This prevents an approved request from being treated automatically as a completed expense.

An approved request authorizes a budget ceiling. It does not automatically mean the full amount was released, spent, or recognized as company expense.

Final fund release, spending, receipts, returns, and settlement remain inside Budget Releases & Liquidation.

Who can use it

Role	View requests	Create request	Review or approve	Create linked release
Admin	Company-wide	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manager	Own submitted requests	Yes	No	No
Supervisor	No module access in current implementation	No	No	No
Employee	No module access in current implementation	No	No	No

Role
Admin
View requests
Company-wide
Create request
Yes
Review or approve
Yes
Create linked release
Yes
Role
Manager
View requests
Own submitted requests
Create request
Yes
Review or approve
No
Create linked release
No
Role
Supervisor
View requests
No module access in current implementation
Create request
No
Review or approve
No
Create linked release
No
Role
Employee
View requests
No module access in current implementation
Create request
No
Review or approve
No
Create linked release
No

Only authorized Admin users should approve request amounts and create linked Budget Releases.

Office Budget Requests requires Budget Releases & Liquidation to be active.

Office budget vs project budget

Office Budget Request

Use for:

office supplies and operating supplies
utilities
travel and transport
maintenance and repairs
professional services
events and meetings
other company overhead

Project-specific funding

Use when the cost belongs directly to project delivery:

project Budget Releases
Project Expenses
Materials & Requisition
other appropriate project workflows

Office Budget Request — financial effect

The request itself does not affect an individual project’s profit.

Project-specific funding — financial effect

Approved project-tagged spending may contribute to actual project cost.

Do not hide project cost

Do not classify a genuine project cost as Office Budget merely to keep it out of project profitability.

Request workflow

Follow these steps from draft through linked fund release.

1
Create the request
Enter the purpose, category, department or cost center, line items, requested amounts, notes, and needed-by date where applicable.
2
Submit for review
Send the request to the authorized approval queue.
3
Review each line
An Admin reviews the business purpose and may adjust the approved amount per line.
4
Approve or reject
Approve valid lines and amounts, or reject the request with a clear reason where required.
5
Create Budget Release
Create one or more linked releases up to the approved ceiling. Actual spending and settlement continue in Budget Releases & Liquidation.

Request details

Request record fields

A request may include:

request number
requested by
department / cost center
category
purpose
needed by
project (optional)
notes
estimated budget total
approved budget total
released total
approved but unreleased amount
submitted liquidation
approved liquidation
returned funds
available remaining
utilization state
status
linked Budget Releases
activity trail

Categories and purpose

Supported categories

Operating Supplies — everyday office supplies and consumables
Utilities — recurring utility and facility service costs
Travel Transport — travel, transport, and related operating movement
Maintenance Repairs — maintenance, repairs, and facility upkeep
Professional Services — executive or professional service needs; may map to executive budget releases when no project is selected
Events Meetings — events, meetings, and related operating activities
Other — legitimate overhead that does not fit another category

Category helps classify the request and determines how linked Budget Releases are created. It does not by itself decide final company-expense routing—that happens in the linked release and liquidation workflow.

Requested, approved, and released amounts

Requested Amount

What the requester initially asks the company to authorize through estimated line totals.

Approved Amount

What the authorized Admin permits after reviewing each line.

Released Amount

What was actually issued through linked Budget Releases.

Approved but Unreleased

Approved but Unreleased = Approved Budget − Linked Released Amount reserved toward the ceiling

Approval does not release cash automatically.

One approved request may support more than one partial linked release when the current implementation permits.

Linked releases must not exceed the approved ceiling.

Actual spending is tracked after release through Budget Releases & Liquidation, not on the request itself.

Request statuses

Status	Meaning	Available behavior
Draft	Request is still being prepared	Edit and submit
Submitted	Waiting for Admin review	Review, approve, or reject
Approved	Approved ceiling is available	Create linked Budget Releases
Rejected	Request was not approved	Revise and resubmit where supported
Cancelled	Request was withdrawn or stopped	Preserve history

Status
Draft
Meaning
Request is still being prepared
Available behavior
Edit and submit
Status
Submitted
Meaning
Waiting for Admin review
Available behavior
Review, approve, or reject
Status
Approved
Meaning
Approved ceiling is available
Available behavior
Create linked Budget Releases
Status
Rejected
Meaning
Request was not approved
Available behavior
Revise and resubmit where supported
Status
Cancelled
Meaning
Request was withdrawn or stopped
Available behavior
Preserve history

Release and utilization progress are derived indicators, not stored request statuses:

Release state: not released, partially released, fully released
Utilization state: not started, in progress, settled

Line-by-line approval

How line approval works

reviewers inspect every requested line
approved amount may be lower than requested amount
rejected or reduced lines retain review context in the activity trail
the total approved ceiling is based on approved line amounts
changing an approved amount follows current status restrictions
approval does not create a Company Expense
approval does not prove the item was purchased

Authorization, not payment

Approving a request confirms authorization—not payment, purchase, delivery, or liquidation.

Linked Budget Releases

1
Open an approved Office Budget Request
Select a request with Approved status.
2
Create Budget Release
Use the supported action to open the release drawer.
3
Enter the amount to release
Stay within the remaining approved ceiling.
4
Confirm recipient and release details
Select the fund holder and confirm purpose details.
5
Save the linked release
The release is linked to the request and appears in release history.
6
Continue in Budget Releases & Liquidation
Handle spending, receipts, returns, and settlement on the linked release.

Linked releases must remain within the approved ceiling.
Partial releases may be created where supported.
The request shows linked release progress and utilization snapshot.
Actual spending does not belong directly on the request record.
Release history remains auditable.

Office Budget Requests vs Company Expenses

Office Budget Request

Purpose:

Authorizes planned operating funds before payment or spending.

Company Expense

Purpose:

Records an actual company overhead cost that has already occurred or is being submitted for approval.

Office Budget Request — effect

No immediate company-expense recognition.

Company Expense — effect

Approved records contribute to company overhead reporting.

A request and a Company Expense must not be used to record the same cost twice.

Relationship with Budget Releases & Liquidation

Financial flow

Office Budget Request → Approved budget ceiling → One or more linked Budget Releases → Liquidation items and receipts → Approved company spending or returned funds → Settlement

Office Budget Requests controls authorization.

Budget Releases records funds issued.

Liquidation records actual spending and returns.

Company Expenses records approved company overhead according to the implemented routing rules.

Project profit is unaffected unless a later record is deliberately and validly project-tagged through another workflow.

Supporting information

What you can include today

purpose and notes on the request
line-item descriptions
needed-by date
department or cost center context

The current Office Budget Request builder does not include a dedicated file-attachment field. Supporting quotations, invoices, or photos should be referenced in notes or line descriptions when helpful, and verified again during release and liquidation review.

Do not include passwords, OTPs, private keys, banking credentials, or unrelated personal information in request text.

Recurring vs one-time requests

Office Budget Requests currently records individual requests. It does not automatically create recurring monthly or scheduled requests.

Each request is prepared, submitted, reviewed, and released on its own lifecycle.

Secondary details

Editing and resubmission

Draft requests can be edited by the requester or Admin.
Submitted requests cannot be edited until rejected and revised.
Rejected requests can be moved back to Draft through Revise Request.
Resubmission follows the normal submit-for-review workflow.
Review history remains preserved in the activity trail.

Cancellation

Draft requests may be cancelled by the requester or Admin.
Approved requests may be cancelled only by Admin when no linked Budget Releases exist.
Cancellation requires a reason and is recorded in the activity trail.
Cancellation does not delete financial or audit history.

Partial releases

Multiple linked releases may be created under one approved ceiling.
Released total and approved but unreleased amounts are tracked on the request.
Over-release is blocked by the linked release workflow.

Derived utilization and settlement

Release state is derived from linked Budget Releases: not released, partially released, fully released.
Utilization state is derived from linked release activity: not started, in progress, settled.
These indicators are not manually edited request statuses.
Settlement depends on linked release balances, liquidation progress, and returned funds.

Notifications

Submission and approval notifications remain deferred until the core notification platform ships. Review requests from the Office Budget Requests list and Approvals queue.

Module cancellation or expiry

New request creation may be blocked when the module is inactive.
Historical requests and linked releases remain preserved.
Records may become read-only according to current module behavior.
Cancellation does not delete financial history.

Financial effect

Financial control, not project profit

Office Budget Requests affect financial control, not project profit directly.

Request created → No cost

Request approved → Authorized ceiling, still no cost

Budget Release created → Company cash is released, but not automatically expense

Approved liquidation or Company Expense → Company overhead recognized

Returned funds → Not cost

Important limitations

Office Budget Requests is a paid add-on.
It requires Budget Releases & Liquidation for release and settlement.
Request approval does not mean cash was already released.
Release does not mean the amount was already spent correctly.
Actual spending and receipts remain in the linked finance workflow.
Approved office spending affects company overhead, not one project’s profit.
One cost must not be duplicated across requests, releases, liquidation items, and Company Expenses.
Linked releases must remain within the approved ceiling.
Recurring requests are not supported in the current implementation.
Submission and approval notifications remain deferred.
Financial and audit history must be preserved after rejection, cancellation, or module expiry.
This workflow does not replace formal accounting, banking, or procurement controls.

Where to find help

Use the ? button in the web application for the current page guide, Getting Started, Module Guides, and Contact Support.