ForemanFOREMAN

Cost groups & budget templates

Save assemblies of cost items as reusable budget templates, then import a whole assembly into any project's Budget in one step.

A budget template (cost group) is a saved assembly — a named bundle of cost items with quantities, like "Bathroom Remodel" or "Foundation." Build it once in your cost database, then pull the whole thing into a project's Budget in a single step instead of adding each line by hand.

Open your budget templates

  1. From the sidebar, click Cost Database.
  2. Open the Budget Templates tab.

Don’t see this?

Creating or editing templates needs cost database editing access. Importing a template into a project also needs budget editing access. If the buttons below are missing, ask your organization owner.

Create a budget template

  1. On the Budget Templates tab, click Add Template.
  2. Foreman creates the template and opens it with the name highlighted — type a name (e.g. Kitchen Remodel) and press Enter.
  3. You're now in a Budget-style editor. Add sections and line items exactly like you would in a project Budget — set quantities, units, costs, and margins.

Note

The template uses a Budget-style grid, but changes save as you make them — there is no project-budget Save changes button here. The template editor also hides the Cost Code and Quantity Formula columns. To capture a project budget's full assembly and parameter setup, use Save as template on that project's budget toolbar.

Import a template into a project's Budget

  1. Open a project and go to its Budget tab.
  2. Click Import in the toolbar and choose From template.
  3. Search for the template and select it. Arrow keys move through the results and Enter selects the highlighted template.
  4. Its groups, nested structure, quantities, and formulas are added to the budget. This action saves pending budget edits before importing.

Map the template's parameters

Project parameters are included when a budget is saved as a template. A measurement from the original project's plans becomes a Required input in the imported project.

  1. Open Parameters on the destination budget.
  2. Find a required input and click Choose source.
  3. Pick the destination measurement in the formula list, or switch the input to Value and enter a reusable project value.
  4. Click Apply, then save the budget. Until required inputs are supplied, dependent calculations remain unavailable.

Import and export templates

  1. On the Budget Templates tab, use Import to bring template definitions in from a CSV.
  2. Use Export to download your templates as a CSV.
NextCost codes