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Cost Management

Align lets you track estimated and committed costs against entries and releases, with an AI-powered approval workflow for cost changes that exceed thresholds.

Adding a Cost Estimate​

Costs are attached to individual entries.

  1. Open an entry.
  2. Click Costs in the detail sidebar.
  3. Enter an estimated cost in your organisation's currency.
  4. Click Save Estimate.
Entry cost estimate
The cost section of an entry showing the estimated cost field and a breakdown of approval stages.

Committing a Cost​

Once actual costs are known, they are committed to lock them in:

  1. Open the entry's Costs section.
  2. Click Commit Cost.
  3. Enter the committed amount and any supporting notes.
  4. Submit — this triggers the approval workflow if the amount exceeds your organisation's threshold.
Commit cost dialog
The commit cost dialog showing the amount field, notes area, and approval threshold warning.

Cost Approval Workflow​

When a committed cost exceeds the configured threshold, it must be approved:

RoleWhat they approve
ManagerFirst-level approval
AdminSecond-level approval
ClientOptional client sign-off (if configured)

Each approver receives an email notification. They can view the entry details, the cost breakdown, and leave a comment before approving or rejecting.

Cost approval panel
The cost approval view showing the approval chain, current stage, and approve/reject buttons.

AI-Assisted Cost Estimation​

For entries where costs are unclear, Align's AI can suggest an estimate:

  1. Open an entry with a description.
  2. Click Suggest Estimate in the Costs section.
  3. The AI analyses the description and similar historical entries to produce a cost range.
  4. Review and adjust the suggestion before saving.
AI cost suggestion
The AI cost suggestion panel showing a low/mid/high estimate range with a brief explanation.

Release Cost Summary​

Each release shows a cost summary aggregating all entries:

  • Total Estimated — sum of all estimates.
  • Total Committed — sum of all approved committed costs.
  • Pending Approval — amounts awaiting sign-off.
  • Variance — committed vs estimated, highlighted in red if over budget.
Release cost summary
The release cost summary panel showing estimated vs committed costs per entry and totals row.