Budget Assignments

After creating a budget, you need to assign it to users so they can book travel against it. Assignments can be made at the role level (for bulk application) or user level (for individual overrides).

Assignment Types

Role Assignments

Role assignments apply a budget to all users with a specific company role.

Benefits of Role Assignments

• Bulk application: One assignment covers many users
• Automatic inclusion: New users with the role get the budget automatically
• Simple management: Change the assignment to affect all role members
• Role-based policy: Clear spending limits by organizational level

Creating a Role Assignment

1. Navigate to Budgets → select the budget
2. Go to the Assignments section
3. Click Assign to Role
4. Select a role from the dropdown
5. Click Assign

Example: Sales Team Budget

Scenario: All salespeople should have a $3,000/month travel budget.

Steps:

1. Create budget "Sales Travel" ($3,000/month)
2. Assign to role "Sales Representative"
3. All 15 sales reps now have this budget

Result:

One Budget Per Role

Each role can only have one budget assignment:

Role: Sales Representative
Budget: Sales Travel ✓

Role: Sales Representative  
Budget: Premium Travel ✗ (would replace Sales Travel)

To change a role's budget, the old assignment is replaced by the new one.

Viewing Role Assignments

On the budget detail page, the Assignments section shows:

Click a role to see which users have that role.

Removing a Role Assignment

1. Navigate to the budget's Assignments section
2. Find the role assignment
3. Click the remove/delete icon
4. Confirm removal

User Assignments

User assignments apply a budget to a specific individual user, overriding any role-level assignment.

Benefits of User Assignments

• Individual overrides: Different budget for specific users
• Time-bounded: Can have start and end dates
• Exception handling: Handle special cases without new roles
• Temporary changes: Project-based or seasonal budgets

Creating a User Assignment

1. Navigate to Budgets → select the budget
2. Go to the Assignments section
3. Click Assign to User
4. Select or search for a user
5. Optionally set Effective From and Effective Until dates
6. Click Assign

Time-Bounded Assignments

User assignments can have optional date ranges:

Example: Temporary Budget Increase

User: Alice
Budget: Project Lead Budget ($10,000/month)
Effective From: January 1, 2024
Effective Until: March 31, 2024

One Budget Per User

Each user can only have one direct budget assignment:

User: Alice
Budget: Project Lead Budget ✓

User: Alice
Budget: VIP Travel ✗ (would replace Project Lead)

The user still has their role's budget as a fallback when the user assignment expires or is removed.

Viewing User Assignments

The User Budget Assignments table shows all individual assignments:

Editing a User Assignment

1. Click on the user assignment row
2. Modify dates or budget selection
3. Click Save

Removing a User Assignment

1. Find the user assignment
2. Click the remove/delete icon
3. Confirm removal

The user falls back to their role's budget (if any).

Resolution Order

When a user books travel, the system finds their budget using this priority:

For detailed information on how resolution works, see Budget Resolution.

Example Resolution Scenarios

Scenario 1: User with Both

• Alice has user assignment to "VIP Budget"
• Alice's role has "Standard Budget"
• Result: Alice uses VIP Budget

Scenario 2: Expired User Assignment

• Bob's user assignment expired yesterday
• Bob's role has "Standard Budget"
• Result: Bob uses Standard Budget

Scenario 3: Role Assignment Only

• Carol has no user assignment
• Carol's role has "Standard Budget"
• Result: Carol uses Standard Budget

Scenario 4: No Assignment

• Dave has no user assignment
• Dave's role has no budget
• Result: Dave has no budget (unrestricted)

Assignment Strategies

Strategy 1: Role-Based with Exceptions

Most common approach:

1. Create budgets for each spending tier
2. Assign to roles (Member, Manager, Executive)
3. Create user overrides for special cases

Roles:
- Member → Basic Budget ($2,000/month)
- Manager → Manager Budget ($5,000/month)
- Executive → Executive Budget ($15,000/month)

Overrides:
- Alice (Manager) → Project Lead Budget ($10,000) [temporary]
- Bob (Member) → Probation Budget ($500) [temporary]

Strategy 2: Project-Based Pools

For project budgeting:

1. Create shared pool budgets per project
2. Assign to users working on each project
3. Use time bounds for project duration

Budgets:
- Project Alpha Travel (Shared Pool, $50,000)
- Project Beta Travel (Shared Pool, $30,000)

User Assignments:
- Team Alpha members → Project Alpha Travel (effective: project dates)
- Team Beta members → Project Beta Travel (effective: project dates)

Strategy 3: Department Defaults

Simple department-level control:

1. Create one budget per department
2. Create roles matching departments
3. Assign budget to role

Budgets:
- Marketing Travel ($50,000/quarter, Shared Pool)
- Engineering Travel ($30,000/quarter, Shared Pool)

Role Assignments:
- Marketing role → Marketing Travel
- Engineering role → Engineering Travel

Bulk Assignment Operations

Assigning to Multiple Users

Currently, user assignments are created one at a time. For bulk assignment:

1. Consider role assignment: If users share a role, assign to the role
2. Create assignments sequentially: Add each user assignment individually
3. Use import (if available): Some versions support CSV import

Viewing All Assignments

To see all assignments across budgets:

1. Navigate to Budgets
2. View the budget list
3. Each budget shows assignment count
4. Click to see assignment details

Managing Expired Assignments

User assignments with past Effective Until dates:

• Are still visible in assignment list
• Show as "Expired" or past date
• No longer affect user's budget resolution
• Can be deleted for cleanup

Cleanup Recommendations

Periodically review expired assignments:

1. Navigate to budget assignments
2. Filter or sort by Effective Until
3. Delete assignments that expired long ago
4. Keep recent ones for audit trail

Previewing User Budgets

To verify a user's effective budget:

1. Navigate to the user's profile or company user detail
2. Find the "Budget" or "Budget Preview" section
3. See their resolved budget with source indicated

User: alice@company.com

Budget Resolution:
  Source: USER (override)
  Budget: Project Lead Budget
  Amount: $10,000/month
  Effective: Jan 1 - Mar 31, 2024
  
Current Period:
  Period: February 2024
  Allocated: $10,000
  Spent: $3,200
  Remaining: $6,800

This confirms the assignment is working correctly.

Common Issues

"User already has a budget assignment"

Each user can only have one direct assignment. To change it:

1. Remove the existing assignment
2. Create the new assignment

Or edit the existing assignment to change the budget.

"Role already has a budget assignment"

Each role can only have one budget. The new assignment will replace the old one.

Assignment not taking effect

Check:

1. Is the assignment within its date range?
2. Is the budget active (not deleted/inactive)?
3. Is there a higher-priority user assignment?

Related Topics

• Budget Resolution - How resolution works
• Creating Budgets - Create budgets first
• Roles and Permissions - Understanding company roles