Uploading and parsing your grant budget converts your approved award budget into structured categories within Instrumentl. This allows Spenddown to align your budget with your accounting data and power accurate Budget vs. Actuals reporting.
By structuring your budget correctly at the start, you streamline GL mapping, improve reporting clarity, and reduce reconciliation issues later on.
Why use budget parsing in Spenddown?
Budget parsing ensures your financial tracking reflects your funder’s budget categories while staying compatible with your accounting structure.
Using this feature allows you to:
Convert funder-approved budgets into structured, editable categories
Align funder-approved budget categories with accounting data
Support multi-year grant phase tracking
Prepare your award for accurate Budget vs. Actuals reporting
Streamline post-award financial management
Getting started
Before uploading your budget, make sure the following are in place:
The grant status is set to Awarded
The award record is complete
You have the final funder-approved budget document ready
Multi-year phase structure is defined (if applicable)
Important: Budget parsing requires an existing awarded grant record in your Tracker. If your grant has not yet been added, you can add it by:
Adding grant records one-by-one, or
Importing multiple grants at once using a spreadsheet
Learn more about adding grant records to your tracker here.
Spenddown currently supports one saved budget per grant. Budget versioning is not currently supported.
Upload and parse a budget document
You may upload:
PDF files
Excel spreadsheets
To begin:
Navigate to the grant’s Financials tab
Select Upload a budget
Drag and drop your file (or click to browse your files)
Allow Instrumentl to parse the document
Instrumentl will extract:
Budget categories
Subcategories (one level supported)
Budget amounts
Multi-year structure (if detected)
Parsing typically takes a few moments.
Review parsed categories
After parsing completes, review:
Category names
Hierarchy structure
Budget amounts
Phase assignments (for multi-year grants)
It is normal for:
Categories to appear in a different order than the original document
Minor formatting differences between the source file and parsed version
Focus on structural accuracy rather than formatting alignment.
If adjustments are needed, you can:
Edit category names directly
Adjust budget amounts
Reassign categories to the appropriate phase
Multi-year grants: Define phases clearly
If your grant spans multiple years, you must define budget phases.
Each phase must include:
A start date
An end date
Important: Expenses will not sync unless every budget phase includes both a start and end date.
Confirm phase structure before proceeding to GL mapping.
Common budget parsing questions
Can I upload multiple versions of the same budget?
No. Spenddown currently supports one saved budget per grant. If your funder revises the budget, manually update the existing version.
What if parsing mislabels a category?
You can edit any parsed category before proceeding to GL mapping.
Does parsing change my accounting system?
No. Parsing only affects only the budget within Instrumentl. Your accounting system remains unchanged.
What success looks like
Your budget setup is complete when:
All categories are accurate
Budget totals match your approved award
Multi-year phases (if applicable) are defined
The budget is ready for GL mapping
Once validated, proceed to mapping your GL accounts to begin syncing expenses.
What Happens Next?
Now that your budget is structured, the next step is to map your GL accounts so expenses can begin syncing into Budget vs. Actuals.
Your next step:
→ How to Map Grants and GL Accounts in Instrumentl Spenddown
Contact Us 
Reach out to our Customer Support team if you have any questions about our Sage Intacct Integration! Message us via the chat bubble when you're logged in, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.