# Create and approve a grant budget

Save complete dated budget lines, approve a version, and preserve earlier versions when amending it.

Canonical: https://demo.qixcount.com/help/nonprofit/grant-budgets

Who can do this: Owners, or people with *View grants*; drafts need *Manage grant awards*; approval needs *Review grant classification and evidence*

Where: Nonprofit, then Grants

You'll need: An accessible active or trial Nonprofit subscription; approved mappings and an active Operating fund; an active grant with start and end dates

## Save a draft

1. Select **Budget** on the grant record.
2. Select **Create budget**, or **Amend budget** after an approval, to open the panel.
3. Select **Expense account** for a line.
4. Select **Fund**.
5. Select **Program** if needed.
6. Enter **Starts** within the award period.
7. Enter **Ends** within the award period.
8. Enter **Amount**.
9. Select **Add a line** if needed.
10. Enter **Why the budget is changing** for an amendment, up to 5,000 characters.
11. Select **Save for approval**.

## Who can do this and what you need

Save a dated spending plan for a grant, then approve a complete version. Budgeting does not require classification review and posts no financial transaction.

You need **View grants** to open the budget, **Manage grant awards** to save a draft, and **Review grant classification and evidence** to approve one. Approved mappings and an active Operating fund are required.

The active award needs both start and end dates. Use **Edit award** before funding if dates are missing. Once funding posts, the entire award stays locked, even after funding is undone. A funded award without complete dates cannot have a budget; its record advances to the money step instead.

A version accepts 1–500 lines. Accounts, funds, and programs must be active. Dates for the same account, fund, and program cannot overlap. Zero amounts are accepted. Amendments copy the latest approved lines; enter complete new amounts, not differences.

**Cancel** closes only the unsaved editor. A saved draft cannot be deleted.

![Budget tab with dated lines, spending, remaining amounts, and version history](https://demo.qixcount.com/images/help/nonprofit-grant-budget.webp)

## Approve the current version

Review its lines under **Versions**, then select the approval button bearing that version's number. A latest draft with changed award dates or predecessor is out of date; select **Create a current draft**.

An older draft superseded by a newer version stays in history without approval or replacement actions. It does not override a newer approved budget as the grant's next step.

## What happens next

Approved versions stay unchanged. An approved budget also locks the award's grantor, amount, period, fund, and program before funding.

Use **From**, **Through**, and **Version**, then select **View spending** to compare budget and spending. Only versions approved by the end date are eligible. **Part of a period** keeps the whole line budget while spending uses the displayed intersection dates; **Left** is **Not available** for that line. Spending outside the lines appears separately.

Next, [download the grant report](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/nonprofit/grant-reports-and-downloads).