---
title: Create or update a budget
description: Cost management provides budgets for you to plan expenses for a certain time period.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-business-management/cost-management/t\_ManageABudget.html
release: australia
product: Cost Management
classification: cost-management
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Budgets and cost centers, Cost Management, Strategic Portfolio Management]
---

# Create or update a budget

Cost management provides budgets for you to plan expenses for a certain time period.

## Before you begin

Role required: financial\_mgmt\_admin

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Cost** > **Config** > **Budgets**.

2.  Select a Budget to edit or select **New**.

3.  Fill in the form \(see table\)

    |Field|Input value|
    |-----|-----------|
    |Number|System generated record number.|
    |Name|String field for the name of the budget.|
    |Start|Date field defining the beginning of the budget period.|
    |End|Date field defining the end of the budget period.|
    |Planned|Currency field representing the planned amount of expenses for the associated cost centers during the budget period. This value is inputted or imported.|
    |Actual|Currency field representing the actual amount of expenses for the associated cost centers during the budget period. This is a calculated field using the list of expense allocations for the cost centers.|
    |Remaining|Currency field representing the amount of planned minus actual expenses. This is a calculated field.|
    |Projected|Currency field representing the estimated amount of expenses for the associated cost centers during the budget period. An average daily expense amount is calculated and applied to the rest of the budget period to determine the estimated projection.|


## What to do next

Review the related lists for this budget and update them as necessary. See [Budget related records](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-business-management/cost-management/c_BudgetRelatedRecords.md).

**Parent Topic:**[Budgets and cost centers](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-business-management/cost-management/c_BudgetsAndCostCenters.md)

**Related topics**  


[Budgets and cost centers](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-business-management/cost-management/c_BudgetsAndCostCenters.md)