Spend budgets on Business HQ let you set monthly dollar caps per category or vendor. FilePile compares current-month spend from sorted invoices and highlights budgets near or over the limit.
What this guide covers
Creating budgets, reading progress bars, alert styling, and how spend is calculated from Ledger due dates.
Before you begin
- Pro or Business plan with Spend Budgets enabled.
- Invoices with categories or vendor names matching the budget scope you set.
- Owner or Manager access to Business HQ.
Step-by-step: add a spend budget
- Log in at /login and open Business HQ (/account/business).
- Scroll to Spend budgets under Budgets & monthly uploads.
- Choose Scope: Category or Vendor.
- Type the Name exactly as it appears in Ledger (for example Software & SaaS or Acme Corp).
- Enter the Monthly limit ($).
- Click Add budget.
Step-by-step: monitor spend against caps
- Read each budget row: spent amount, limit, and percent used.
- Watch the usage bar fill as new PDFs complete on Processing.
- Rows with alerts highlight when spend nears or exceeds the cap.
- Cross-check totals on Monthly expenses chart on Dashboard.
Step-by-step: adjust or remove budgets
- When a vendor contract changes, add a new limit or delete obsolete budgets from the panel.
- Upload missing PDFs if spend looks lower than you expect (uncategorized bills may sit in Other).
- Run Categorize older invoices so category budgets include all rows.
What you should see
- Budget rows with scope type, name, dollar spent, limit, and percent.
- Usage bars turning high-contrast when percent reaches about 90% or more.
- No budgets yet message before you add the first cap.
Tips and common issues
- Spend uses invoice due dates in the current calendar month.
- Category budgets need accurate AI expense categories.
- Vendor budgets match Ledger vendor spelling exactly.
- Pair with Payment Command Center for upcoming due amounts, not just past spend.
Related guides
Tip: Set vendor budgets for your three largest suppliers right after charts show who dominates spend.
Frequently asked questions
Which plans include budgets?
Pro and Business. Free does not include Spend Budgets.
Do budgets block uploads?
No. They warn you visually; they do not stop PDF uploads.
What triggers an alert?
Spend approaching or exceeding the monthly limit you set, shown on the budget row.
Scenario walkthrough
Imagine it is the 28th of the month. You log in at /login, land on Dashboard (/dashboard), and scan the stat tiles: Tracked spend, Estimated tax (if on Business), Account credit, and Open invoices for your FilePile subscription. You open the Upload tab, add any PDFs that arrived today, then switch to Processing until each row shows completed. You check Ledger for amounts and Browse for folder paths. If Business HQ (/account/business) applies to your plan, you open the relevant panel next. Finally you visit /docs if you need a deeper guide.
Glossary (FilePile terms)
- Dashboard: main workspace at /dashboard with Upload, Processing, Ledger, Tasks, Browse tabs.
- Business HQ: owner tools at /account/business including Payment Command Center, Email Invoice Inbox, Spend Budgets, Approval Workflows, Bank Reconciliation, Tax estimates, Executive P&L, and Accounting export/import.
- Profile: separate business archive under one login; see /account/profiles.
- Ledger: searchable table of processed vendor invoices.
- Tasks: review queue for missing fields or billing mismatches.
Keyboard and navigation habits
Use the left sidebar consistently: Dashboard for daily PDF work, Business HQ for payables and reporting, Reminders at /account/reminders for email preferences, Help center at /docs for articles like this one. The Invoice workspace never uses a tab named Process; uploads always start on Upload.
When to contact support
Contact support if a valid PDF fails after three retries on Processing, if team invites never arrive, if billing charges look incorrect on /account/invoices, or if Business HQ panels stay locked after a confirmed upgrade. Include your account email, active profile name, and screenshot of the error row.
Record-keeping reminder
FilePile sorts and extracts PDFs you provide. It does not replace professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Keep original vendor emails and bank records alongside your FilePile Browse archive for audit readiness.
Budget naming tip
Copy category names from a Ledger badge when creating category budgets so the scope name matches FilePile's auto-tags.
Quick reference card
| Item | Value |
|------|-------|
| Login | /login |
| Register | /register |
| Dashboard | /dashboard |
| Business HQ | /account/business |
| Company | /account/company |
| Reminders | /account/reminders |
| Help | /docs |
| Plans | Free (25/mo), Pro, Business |
| Upload types | PDF only on Dashboard |
| Workspace tabs | Upload, Processing, Ledger, Tasks, Browse |
Keep this table handy when onboarding teammates so nobody searches for a Upload tab that does not exist.