4 new ways to set spending limits with budgets—and more

We’ve listened carefully to your feedback and are excited to announce that we've updated the Create a new budget experience in BILL Spend & Expense to be even more seamless. This flow now includes four options to set spending limits—with or without buffers—to give your business the flexibility it needs.

Get more flexibility and control over budgets

When setting up a budget, select a target spending limit. Consider this an estimated maximum and know you can make adjustments later if needed.

Next—and most importantly—choose what happens when you reach your target. Here's where new flexibility comes into play and your four new options come in.

Option 1: Cut off spend once the target is reached

This option is best for a budget that needs to adhere strictly to an amount and avoiding overspending is the primary goal. With this option, budget owners can only assign funds less than or equal to the target spending limit.

If you select Decline charges, once you meet the budget's total—that's it. All members and their cards tied to this budget will decline until more funds are added. Or, if it's a recurring budget, until funds are reset for the period. Though no overspending can happen, you'll still be notified once this total is reached.

Option 2: Allow a buffer over your target spending limit

This option is best for someone who wants some control over spend but also some allowance for going over budget when encountering unexpected or varying costs and doesn't want their card to be declined. This is also a great option for those who need flexibility into how much can be assigned to budget memebrs to avoid unwanted declines.

If you select Allow overspend, to an extent, spending from the budget will be allowed to surpass the total for the budget—but only by the set buffer. You'll be notified when the budget total is reached and when the buffer has been depleted and spending is locked.

Option 3: Set target spending limits with no buffer 

This is often the preferred option for advertising spend, travel, or supporting an executive team.

If you select Allow overspend, spend from the budget will be allowed to surpass the total for the budget without a buffer, but you'll be notified once this total is reached to maintain visibility. Enjoy uninterrupted spend and avoid declines due to budget amount restrictions.

Option 4: Forgo target spending limits altogether

Want to use your BILL Divvy Card powered by Visa* more like a traditional credit card? Now, you have the option to do so. Where it says Set a target for this budget, simply select No to forgo target spending limits altogether and only get declines when you reach your credit limit.

Check out the budget page redesign

On top of adding more flexibility with target spend limits, we've also carefully redesigned the budgets page.

Easily find your most relevant information with the option to drill down further into the details. Enjoy more functionality to make managing your financial controls even more straightforward. 

Here are the highlights: 

  • Budget increase requests. Budget and group owners can now ask for an increase to their budget or group amount.
  • Budget notifications. Budget owners receive notifications to alert them when 90% of the budget has been spent and when the amount has been exceeded if they have selected that option when creating a budget.
  • Policy within reach. A budget's policy is now viewable on the budget's page, where its controls are clearly laid out.
  • Budget description. Always know the purpose of a budget and other essential details with the new description text field.
  • Quickly dive deeper into areas of interest. See member and card details along with transactions and reimbursements on the budgets page for a quick overview with the option to dive deeper if needed.
  • More visibility into budget roles. Now, members can easily view who the budget owner is. Additionally, budget owners can quickly find who can increase their budget if needed.

Shared funds access updates

Admins can now turn on shared funds for specific people—including the budget owner. When creating a budget, admins will have two options: to allow full access to funds for some members or not to share full access with anyone. 

Full access to a budget’s funds means a member can spend the entire budget. This is great if you want certain people to be able to spend up to the budget limit. 

Not allowing full access to funds lets you decide precisely how much each budget member can spend. For example, if you set a budget for $1,000 and give a budget member $100, that member will only be able to spend up to that $100.

Want to learn more about shared funds and how they work? Read this article.

*The BILL Divvy Card is issued by Cross River Bank, member FDIC, and is not a deposit product.

At BILL, we're always striving to improve our platform and provide the best service possible. Have an update you’d like to see? Send your feedback to feedback@hq.bill.com.