Instrumentl is committed to being your all-in-one platform for grant management and tracking — including post-award management! We know Grant Managers and Program Teams need a streamlined way to monitor grant finances, which is why we offer Budget Spenddown Tracking.
Budget Spenddown Tracking is a feature exclusive to the Professional and Custom Plans. You can also learn more about the Professional Plan here.
Overview
As discussed in the following sections, Instrumentl's Budget Spenddown Tracking features includes several main components:
Import Expenses from your Accounting Tool
The first step to Budget Spenddown Tracking is importing a CSV file of your expenses into Instrumentl. You can simply generate the CSV from your current accounting software, such as QuickBooks, Sage, MIP, etc.
Under the Financials tab, you'll then attach the CSV documenting your expenses.
You'll be asked to fill out our expenses template to ensure the import is successful.
From there, you'll finish the import by mapping awards and setting budgets.
Once that's complete, you're ready to begin tracking spenddown!
Track Spending Overall
When clicked into the Awards View of your Tracker, your dashboard shows you how your Spenddown is tracking.
It defaults to show the percentage, but hovering over the statistic will show you both the amount available and total amount spent.
You'll also see a Spenddown column in your Tracker, showing you how are expenses are tracking for each award at a glance.
Monitor Spending for Each Award
Once you've clicked into the Financials tab for a specific opportunity in your Tracker, you can see the overview of spending for that specific award.
Herein lies key information such as Award Amount, Amount Spent, Amount Remaining, and how you are tracking during the spend period as displayed on a graph. You'll also see an Off Track or On Track icon. This is calculated based on the amount you've spent thus far and where you are in the grant period.
Underneath the Overview section, you'll find the breakdown of your budget organized by category, date, description, amount budgeted and amount spent.
Budget Spenddown tracking eliminates uncertainty over grant financials with intuitive visuals for smarter decision-making. We’re excited to continue improving Instrumentl's post-award management capabilities!
FAQs
How does this feature differ from other financial tracking tools?
How does this feature differ from other financial tracking tools?
Unlike other large-scale software, Instrumentl is tailored specifically for Grant Managers. We focus on usability and effectiveness in grant management versus overall accounting. We have a unique visual approach to financial tracking, setting it apart from traditional, number-heavy tools.
Can I just manually add a budget without using a CSV?
Can I just manually add a budget without using a CSV?
Yes! The CSV is just used for importing expenses. You can go ahead and start adding budgets for any saved grant in an application or award status. This will help you keep track of grant budgets and enable you to compare the budget vs. actuals as you import expenses.
If we want to adjust categories to best reflect our budgeting process, how easy will that be?
If we want to adjust categories to best reflect our budgeting process, how easy will that be?
Modifying the budget is simple. You can edit the Expense Category name and the Amount Budgeted in the Financials tab of the award at any time.
If you accidentally uploaded an Expense Category without expenses, you can delete the category altogether.
If you need to delete an Expense Category with a total dollar amount >$0, just contact our Customer Support team and we'll take care of it for you!
How can I delete an expense, expense category, or undo an expense file I imported?
How can I delete an expense, expense category, or undo an expense file I imported?
Our Instrumentl Customer Support team will handle deletions for you — simply contact us at hello@instrumentl.com and we'll get right on it!
Exception: You can remove an expense category that was accidentally uploaded without any expenses directly from your account.
Please contact us to delete any expense categories that contain a non-zero $ amount of expenses.
For context, we prioritize data integrity to ensure your expense data aligns perfectly with your accounting tool. That's why we're careful to not make line items too easy to edit within the platform. However, we're continuing to enhance the reallocation process to make it even smoother for users to make such adjustments without compromise.
I need help with uploading my expenses and have specific questions. What should I do?
I need help with uploading my expenses and have specific questions. What should I do?
If you have specific questions or need assistance of any kind with importing your expense template CSV, just reach out to our support team via hello@instrumentl.com.
Contact Us 
If you have any questions about our Budget Spenddown feature, simply message our friendly Customer Support team via the chat bubble when logged into your account, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.