Finance Budget — hard limits and automatic distribution

Short Description Finance Budget enforces hard limits to prevent overspending, and Hive9 can automatically distribute a parent budget across child lines. This article explains both controls.

What this article answers

• How hard limits work.
• When Hive9 blocks an edit that would exceed a limit.
• How automatic distribution speeds up budget setup.

Hard limits

A hard limit is a budget rule that prevents the sum of allocated amounts from exceeding the parent budget. When enabled:

• Line Items can't be saved if their amount pushes the linked Budget Line's total over its limit.
• Bulk edits that would breach the limit are blocked.
• Purchase Request lines that would exceed available budget are blocked at submission.

Hard limits are configured per Budget Line by your finance team or admin.

[SCREENSHOT NEEDED — Budget Line configuration with hard limit toggle]

What happens when you hit a hard limit

Hive9 shows a validation error explaining the limit. The error message identifies which Budget Line is constraining your edit and by how much you've exceeded it.

To proceed, you have three options:

1. Reduce your edit — lower the Line Item amount, PR line, or Tactic Planned Cost so the total fits within the limit.
2. Free up budget elsewhere — reduce an existing allocation to the same Budget Line.
3. Request a budget increase — your finance team adjusts the parent Budget.

Automatic distribution

Automatic distribution speeds up creating budget hierarchies. When enabled, you can:

• Enter a parent Budget amount.
• Hive9 distributes it across child lines based on rules (evenly, by ratio, by template).
• Edit individual children afterward if you need to adjust.

This is helpful when standing up a new Budget that follows a standard pattern. It's not appropriate when each child line needs hand-tuned amounts — in that case, enter each amount directly.

When hard limits cause friction

Hard limits work well when budgets are stable and well-understood. They cause friction when:

• Planning is still in flux and budgets are moving daily.
• Tactics are being created before finance has finalized the Budget Lines.
• A cross-budget reallocation is needed mid-cycle.

If your team is hitting hard limits frequently, talk to your finance lead — sometimes the right answer is loosening a limit, other times restructuring the budget hierarchy.

Common questions

Can I bypass a hard limit if I'm an admin? Generally no — hard limits are enforced for all users including admins, by design. The fix is to adjust the limit or the underlying budget, not to bypass.

What if my Planned Costs exceed a hard limit on a budget I've already committed to? You'll see validation errors when trying to save. The cleanest fix is to either revise downward, or have your finance team increase the budget.

How is a hard limit different from a Sys_Gen_Balance restriction? Sys_Gen_Balance is a tactic-level check (Line Items can't exceed the parent Tactic's Planned Cost). Hard limits are budget-level checks (allocations can't exceed the Budget Line). Both can be active simultaneously.

Where do I see whether automatic distribution is enabled on a Budget? The Budget Line's configuration shows distribution rules. Your admin can confirm what's set in Admin → Org Setup → Budget Configuration.

Related articles

• Finance Budget — structure and columns
• How do Line Items work?
• Finance Budget — transactions
• Purchase Requests — creating one