---
title: "Getting Started"
description: "The Budget space in Mosaic helps you track project financial health in real time by bringing together your budget, spent time, and future planned time in one place."
url: https://support.mosaicapp.com/en/articles/634-getting-started
collection: "Getting Started"
updated: 2026-09-22
language: en
---

# Getting Started

The Budget space in Mosaic helps you track project financial health in real time by bringing together your budget, spent time, and future planned time in one place.

It is the best place to understand how work is tracking financially as a project moves forward. Instead of waiting until the end of a phase or project to identify risk, you can use Budget to spot overruns early, adjust plans, and make better staffing and planning decisions while there is still time to act.

Budget also connects closely with Planner, Workload, and reporting, so the updates you make here support broader planning and forecasting across Mosaic.

This is the best place to go when you want to answer questions like:

-   Are we on track, under budget, or over budget?
    
-   How much of the budget has already been used?
    
-   How are our plans impacting the project financially?
    
-   Which phase or team member is driving budget risk?
    
-   How can I improve how we plan work over time?
    

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## What you can see in Budget

The Budget space is organized into tabs that each give you a different view of your project:

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/4EsZo20ndggUsXCJN8I3b2dsBQZ8rIcEJuYYgbj9TLXElfFMHMv1YQrAGOW2sgwR8Ado088un6O.png)

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## How to get started

There are two common ways to open the Budget space.

### **1\. Open from Planner**

-   Use the dollar sign icon to jump directly into Budget.
    
    ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/gattachments/DRjqeCp8t3kfGonrJ6xR7OmGYWvwvKKtsy0l8MHGfaHg0BUzRIi0PFFywFnFWdaasLk7Qngvjh5.png)
    

### **2\. Open from Project**

-   Start in the Project or Portfolio space and open the project you want to review. Add the Budget tab if it is not already visible, then open it to review the project’s budget overview.  
    
    ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/gattachments/GViUFIv51GOFYkfdFMsjqj6Q64eUWpwM2pQtUDSqCScHvLheuq1A9s1WGFCWLphsuVnW0RoINp0.png)
    

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## Budget Spaces

### Time

Your primary working view.

-   Shows budget, spent, planned, and remaining
    
-   Used for planning and managing budgets daily
    

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/gattachments/3jUyQp3NXfqr79KxnbzbaEdhEBeTGwL5fRxRW4v5s3gXFQwKs7ONyZ0GOUFLJxopH5FJdrWYFXy.png)

👉 Learn more about Time

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### Progress

Your forward-looking view.

-   Shows how your project is trending over time
    
-   Helps you understand when you’ll hit budget
    

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/tKKzidNovavwNLAQtQSXq9mOT0FGkKZdE0G4fZNnsdR15a4e5XIHAMAn1inYN5EzaofGuJe1os0.png)

👉 Learn more about Progress

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### Scope

Detailed breakdown of work.

-   Track deliverables within phases
    
-   Assign budget at a more granular level
    

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/gattachments/OgXI0AvtRHdJwJiib3RTZReV7HiCAhXqkQZkTnZC2P0qmLaSWv5PNDJGiy8AoaIJHQtSbS8wqit.png)

👉 Learn more about Scope

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### Spent

Your historical view of time.

-   Shows all time entries logged
    
-   Helps validate completed work
    

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/mtFrmXNPZut0qj7tNQTtJHRzSYxUsrsdBf7q5GYB2GvoFsoIkcOyryoVHE5GfbOvoEQUbp6KBxa.png)

👉 Learn more about Spent

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### Billing

Invoice tracking.

-   Track billing alongside budget
    
-   Compare billed vs spent
    

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/38v9ZPAVD8UJGyOPz5w5YlGcO58dGCUAdl6lTK7C8BO7lyLuuy3Bx59xycoDPIQCR57B9qjLHDp.png)

👉 Learn more about Billing

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### Variance

Your comparison view.

-   Planned vs actual time
    
-   Helps improve future planning
    

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/RD3j9ol8GGe6P9FELYh6yVsq6qC7TG01pZYaSvtKkC03miO6S2Pozdt3I65ZnmPo1FazWAHnZzc.png)

👉 Learn more about Variance

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## Best practices

-   Start in **Time** to manage budgets day-to-day
    
-   Use **Progress** to catch issues early
    
-   Use **Variance** to improve planning accuracy
    
-   Use **Spent** to validate work completed
    
-   Only use **Scope and Billing** if your team needs them