---
title: Establish the Grant Program Budget in Grants Management
description: Grant Program Managers can define, categorize, and allocate the total program budget across budget categories and award types.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/government-industry/psds-config-gmp-pgr-budget.html
release: australia
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-06-23"
reading_time_minutes: 3
keywords: [program budget, award allocation, budget categories, grants management]
breadcrumb: [Configure the Grant program budget and award allocation, Set up a grant program, Grants Management Program Setup, Grants Management, Solutions, Use, Public Sector Digital Services \(PSDS\)]
---

# Establish the Grant Program Budget in Grants Management

Grant Program Managers can define, categorize, and allocate the total program budget across budget categories and award types.

## About this task

The Program Budget step in the Grants management Setup playbook defines the total financial scope of a grant program. Enter award and budget information to communicate the financial scope of the grant program and help the internal team and applicants understand potential funding amounts.

From Grants management version 1.41, this step is structured into three logical sections that separate program-level budgeting, category-based allocation, and award configuration.

## Before you begin

Role required: sn\_gsm\_grnt\_mgmt.program\_manager, sn\_gsm\_grnt\_mgmt.grant\_director

## Procedure

1.  In the **Total program budget** field, enter the total amount that will be used for this program.

    The total program budget can't exceed the funding program budget. If the entered amount exceeds the funding program budget, an inline error message is displayed.

2.  Define how the grant program budget is split across different categories.

    The **Award** category is fixed and can't be deleted. All other categories, such as administration, equipment, and indirect costs, are configurable. You can add, remove, or rename non-award categories.

    Enter a percentage allocation for each category. The amount is auto-calculated based on the total program budget. The **Budget allocated** and **Balance left** fields update in real-time as you enter percentages.

    **Important:**

    Allocate 100% of the total program budget across all categories. The balance must be zero before you can mark the activity as complete.

3.  On the Award Allocation form, fill in the fields.

    The **Total award budget allocated** field displays the amount derived from the Award budget category. This value updates automatically when the Award category percentage allocation changes and serves as the budget ceiling for all award type calculations.

<table id="table_jwh_tdz_t3c"><thead><tr><th>

Field

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

**Total award budget allocated**

</td><td>

Read-only. Displays the amount auto-calculated from the Awards budget category percentage allocation. This value is the budget ceiling for award allocation.

</td></tr><tr><td>

**Award type**

</td><td>

Select how the award budget is distributed. Options include: -   **Single Award**- The full Awards category budget is allocated to a single recipient.
-   **Multiple equal awards**- The Grant Program Manager enters a fixed number of awards \(minimum 2\). All awards receive equal funding.
-   \[Optional\] **Multiple variable awards**- The Grant Program Manager enters a maximum budget per award as a ceiling value or a value that's equal to the Total award budget allocated.


</td></tr><tr><td>

**Target number of awards**

</td><td>

Enter the number of awards the total grant award is allocated into for multiple award types.-   **Multiple equal awards**- You must enter a value of 2 or greater.
-   **Multiple variable awards**, this field is optional.


</td></tr><tr><td>

**Max budget per award**

</td><td>

The maximum amount allocated to each grant award when you selected multiple award types.-   **Multiple equal awards**- This value is read-only and auto-calculated as the total award budget allocated divided by the number of awards.
-   **Multiple variable awards**- Provide a ceiling value that is less than or equal to the total award budget allocated.


</td></tr><tr><td>

**Disbursement schedule**

</td><td>

Select the frequency of the grant award disbursement. The grant award can be scheduled to disburse weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually.

</td></tr><tr><td>

**Disbursement type**

</td><td>

Select **Reimbursement** to specify the manner in which the disbursement is sent to the applicant.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>4.  Select **Mark Complete**.

    The activity can't be marked complete until all budget categories are allocated and the balance is zero. If a balance remains, an error message is displayed.


## Result

The total program budget is now allocated across budget categories and the award type is configured. The Budget tab on the Grant Program record displays a read-only summary of the configured budget.

**Note:**

-   The budget information section in the Program setup playbook — **Publish opportunity** activity, the **Preview announcement** page is updated based on the **Award type** and the **Target number of awards** values that you provide.
-   For single award programs, in the Proposal playbook — the **Add proposal budget** activity validates Requested budget total field against the Total award budget allocated and not the Total Program Budget.

## What to do next

Add milestones for your Grant Program.

**Related topics**  


[psds-config-gmp-pgr-milestones]