Project Budget Tracking Database Template

Overview

This template manages project lifecycles by tracking time spent against allocated budgets to ensure profitability and efficiency. It serves as a central hub where project details, employee assignments, and daily hour logs connect to provide real-time utilization visibility without manual heavy lifting.

The system relies on four relational tables—Projects, Users, Allocations, and Hours Log—to maintain data integrity. Every hour logged links directly to a specific employee allocation and project, automatically updating status formulas to instantly flag budgets as "At risk" or "Off track" whenever utilization thresholds are crossed.

Why choose a Project Budget Tracking database over Google Sheets

Spreadsheets often break when trying to link daily time logs to overall project budgets, requiring complex array formulas and manual aggregation that becomes unmanageable as your team grows.

The power of Softr Databases

Softr Databases use native relationships, meaning you can view all logged hours for a specific project without running fragile VLOOKUPs. Unlike free-form cells in Google Sheets, strict field types ensure dates remain dates and numbers remain numbers, preventing common data entry errors. The structural separation of objects—one table for Projects, another for Allocations—ensures your data remains clean and app-ready.

Core features and functionality

This template includes built-in utilization formulas that automatically calculate project health based on real-time data. The dedicated Allocations table allows you to manage team capacity efficiently, ensuring specific roles like site engineers or surveyors are not overbooked across multiple active projects.

Who is this Project Budget Tracking Database for

This template is designed for service-based teams and engineering firms needing precise resource management:

• Project Managers: Track burn rates and budget status across multiple construction or engineering sites.
• Department Heads: Assign site, civil, and structural engineers to projects without creating scheduling conflicts.
• Operations Leads: Monitor team utilization and ensure billable hours do not exceed project caps.

How to take it further

Customize the database

You can easily adapt the "Title" options in the Users table to match your specific team roles or add a validation field to the Projects table. Since this is a native Softr Database, structural changes like adding a "Billable Rate" currency field only take a few clicks.

Import your existing data

Transition from your current system by using the CSV import feature. Upload your list of active clients, ongoing projects, and current staff members to populate the tables instantly and start tracking budget health immediately.

Build an app on top

Turn this database into a secure time-tracking portal where engineers log hours directly from their mobile devices. Use Softr's interface builder to create restricted views so employees only see their assigned allocations, while admins get a full dashboard, managed through granular users and permissions.