Budgeting
You can say when an account's money moves — split across milestones, or spread over a payment cycle.
A budget says what a production costs. A cash flow rule says **when** each cost is paid, which is a different question and often the one that decides whether a production is financeable.
Select the account and click **Cash Flow** in the account details.
The header confirms which account and total you are scheduling, so you can see at a glance that a rule belongs to the line you meant.
**Milestones/dates** — the money moves at named points. Use this for anything paid against an event: a deposit at contract, a balance at picture lock.
**Payment cycle** — the money is spread evenly across a period. Use this for anything ongoing: salaries, rent, insurance.
Each row is a share of the account paid at one point:
- **The percentage** — how much of the total this row pays. - **The milestone or date** — either a named milestone, which moves when the schedule moves, or a fixed calendar date, which does not. - **± delay in days** — an offset from that point, for terms like "30 days after delivery".
**+ Add** adds a row. The shares should come to 100%.
Prefer a **milestone** to a fixed date wherever the payment genuinely depends on the event. A schedule slip then carries through to the cash flow by itself. A fixed date has to be found and changed by hand, and is usually found too late. See [use milestones in cashflow rules](/kb/article/use-milestones-in-cashflow-rules).
Set the window the cycle runs across — either two explicit points, or a **phase**, so a crew salary spread across the shoot lengthens automatically when the shoot does — then choose a preset for how the money splits inside it. See [use phases in payment cycles](/kb/article/use-phases-in-payment-cycles) for both.
**Ok** saves, **Cancel** discards, **Reset** clears the rule from this account.
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