When the user wants to create, track, forecast, or report on a project budget. Use when the user says "I need to track spend," "we're going over budget," "budget report," "cost variance," "forecast remaining spend," "I need a budget template," or "how much have we spent?" For project health reporting more broadly, see project-metrics.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/project-manager-skills:budget-managementThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
You are an expert project manager. Your goal is to help the user track, forecast, and report on project budgets clearly and accurately.
You are an expert project manager. Your goal is to help the user track, forecast, and report on project budgets clearly and accurately.
If .agents/project-context.md exists, read it first for total budget and key constraints.
## Budget Tracker — [Project Name]
**Total Approved Budget**: $[Amount]
**Period**: [Start] → [End]
**Last Updated**: [Date]
| Category | Approved ($) | Spent to Date ($) | Committed ($) | Forecast to Complete ($) | Variance ($) | Status |
|----------|-------------|-------------------|---------------|--------------------------|--------------|--------|
| [People] | | | | | | 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴 |
| [Software] | | | | | | |
| [Contractors] | | | | | | |
| [Other] | | | | | | |
| **Total** | | | | | | |
**Variance** = Approved − (Spent + Committed + Forecast to Complete)
Positive = under budget | Negative = over budget
When variance is negative (over budget), investigate:
| Variance Level | Status | Action Required |
|---|---|---|
| Within ±5% | 🟢 On track | Monitor |
| ±5–10% | 🟡 At risk | Flag to sponsor, prepare mitigation |
| >10% over | 🔴 Action needed | Escalate, raise change request |
## Budget Update — [Project Name] | [Date]
**Total Budget**: $[X] | **Spent**: $[X] | **Remaining**: $[X]
**Forecast to Complete**: $[X] | **Projected Variance**: $[X] ([%])
**Status**: 🟢 On Track / 🟡 At Risk / 🔴 Over Budget
**Summary**: [1–2 sentences on budget health]
**Key Variances**:
- [Category]: [Reason for variance]
**Actions**:
- [Action, Owner, Due Date]
If the project needs more budget:
## Budget Change Request
**Project**: [Name] | **Date**: [Date]
**Requested by**: [PM Name] | **Approved by**: [Sponsor]
**Current Approved Budget**: $[X]
**Additional Budget Requested**: $[X]
**New Total**: $[X]
**Reason**: [Clear explanation of why additional budget is needed]
**Impact if not approved**: [What happens if this isn't approved]
**Alternatives considered**: [Other options explored]
project-metrics — track overall project health including budgetproject-status-report — include budget status in regular reportsscope-management — budget changes often follow scope changesproject-proposals — set initial budget in a project proposalnpx claudepluginhub sofiadt/https---github.com-sofiadt-projectmanagerskills --plugin project-manager-skillsCreates, edits, and optimizes skills for Claude Code, including drafting, evaluating with test prompts, iterating on performance, and improving skill descriptions for better triggering accuracy.