The Budget vs Spend tab is your strategic comparison tool. It answers the fundamental question: Are we spending our money where we planned to spend it?
This report visualizes the manual targets you set during configuration against your team's actual, real-time expenditure. It helps you quickly identify if certain types of work, specific teams, or individual projects are consuming more resources than intended.
Understanding the Charts
The dashboard is divided into two main sections: your plan (left) and your reality (right).
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Budget (The Plan)
The left pie chart and table represent your Planned Allocations.
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This data is not calculated from Jira estimates or worklogs.
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It is drawn directly from the manual targets you configured in the Budget Allocations settings.
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It shows how you intended to divide your Total Budget across the dimension currently selected in the "Group by" dropdown.
💡 Important: If you have not configured Budget Allocations for the dimension currently selected in the "Group by" dropdown (e.g., if you group by "Component" but haven't set up component targets), this chart will display a "No data source" warning. Click the Set Budget Allocations button to define your targets.
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Spend (The Reality)
The right pie chart and table represent your Actual Spend.
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This data is calculated automatically in real-time.
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It sums the cost of all logged Jira work (hours × cost rate) plus any manually entered Fixed Expenses.
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It automatically categorizes these costs based on the dimension selected in the "Group by" dropdown.
How to Use the "Group by" Filter?
The true power of this report lies in the Group by dropdown on the left panel. By changing this selection, you change the lens through which you are analyzing your budget.
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Select a Dimension: Choose how you want to split your data (e.g., by Category, Project, Epic, or Assignee).
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Review the Plan: The Budget (Left) chart will load the specific manual allocations you defined for that dimension in your settings.
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Analyze the Reality: The Spend (Right) chart will automatically recalculate and re-group your actual costs based on that new dimension.
Example Use Case
Let's say you allocated your $100,000 budget by Category, planning to spend not more than 20% on "Non-Billable" activities.
You select "Category" from the Group by dropdown. The Left chart confirms your plan. However, the Right chart reveals that as of now the “non-billable” currently accounts for more than 48% of your actual spend. This visual discrepancy immediately alerts you that your team is spending too much time on internal work and not enough on billable client projects, allowing you to take corrective action before the budget is exhausted.
