Contract value and internal budget describe different aspects of the same work. Contract value represents the client price; internal budget represents the estimate used to plan and manage delivery. They can be equal, but they do not have to be.

Contract value records the amount associated with the work you have agreed to deliver. It provides the commercial basis for fixed-fee progress claims. Time-and-materials billing follows the applicable time and expense charges. Check whether a T&M cap applies; time-and-materials billing does not always mean uncapped billing.

The internal budget is built from the task’s pricing and estimates, including resource and expense entries where present. It gives your team a baseline for planning the work.

It is not necessarily the organisation’s payroll cost, and it is not the actual amount already spent. The rates used in the estimate determine what its monetary value represents. Actual time and recorded costs are tracked separately as work progresses.

A task can have a resource estimate and a separately set client price. For example, an internal estimate of $8,000 and a client price of $10,000 leave a $2,000 difference. Drum displays the difference between contract value and budget as Buffer.

That buffer is a pricing difference, not automatically profit or free capacity. Actual delivery costs, changes in scope and the basis of the estimate still matter.

A cost-to-complete estimate forecasts what is required to finish the remaining work. It answers a different question from either the original budget or the amount left to invoice.

Variations record changes to the project. External variations can change the client contract; internal variations record internal adjustments without changing the contract value. Their effects depend on approval and the changes recorded.

On the project sidebar (and similar summary cards), Drum only shows a separate Contract Value figure when:

If budget and contract value match, Drum keeps a single Budget label. That does not mean there is no commercial amount. It means the two figures are the same, so there is nothing extra to show.

On the Work tab, the Contract view toggle follows the same rules. If you only see Budget and Invoiced, either the figures match, or your role cannot view contract value on that surface.

On the New Invoice form, an Internal budget line sits under the invoicing figure when contract value differs from budget. That line only shows if your role can view budgets (View on the Budgets row of the account role, or Budgets View on the project role). The invoicing figure and Remaining show either way.

Open a project’s Budget tab to list variations. The Budget Value column is the internal budget change for that variation. It is what the team plans and monitors against.

When you can view contract value, a Contract Value column also appears. That is the client-facing (quoted) change for the variation. Use that figure when checking what was issued to the client or what to invoice for a variation. Internal variations do not change contract value, so their contract delta stays at zero.

If you only see Budget Value, open the variation to read the client price, or ask an admin to grant View Contract Value so the Contract Value column appears on the list.

The Budgets tab summary cards (Original Project Budget and Variations Total) roll up internal budget figures. They are not a substitute for the quoted or contract amount.

Do not treat Budget Value as the amount to invoice the client. Budget is the internal estimate. Contract value (the quoted or issued amount) is the commercial figure. When they differ, invoice from the contract side.

How project budgets are built in Drum explains how task pricing and estimates build the project totals.

Variation types and effects reference covers external vs internal variations and reading budget vs contract deltas.