How-toDeltek CostpointProject Funding / Billing

Costpoint: Project Cost Exceeds Funding or Ceiling

Question
Costpoint project cost exceeds funding ceiling billing

Also searched as

  • Costpoint funding limit exceeded invoice
  • Costpoint project ceiling cost overrun billing hold
  • how to set funding and ceiling on Costpoint project
  • Costpoint billing limit revenue limit project

Short answer

Costpoint tracks funding, cost ceilings and billing or revenue limits separately, and a project can be over any one of them while being fine on the others. When costs exceed funding, billing and revenue are limited to what the limits allow, so the first step is to identify which limit is binding and whether a contract modification should raise it.

Applies to: Deltek Costpoint 7.x and cloud, Project Setup and Billing for cost-type and time-and-materials contracts. Field names and screens vary by release and configuration.

How to work an overrun

  1. 1Pull the contract and the latest modification. Write down the contract value, funded amount, cost ceiling and any fee or limitation-of-cost clauses, since these are different numbers.
  2. 2In Project Setup, open the project and compare the funding and limit values to the contract. A mismatch usually means a modification was not entered.
  3. 3Run a project status or cost-to-funding report to see incurred cost, billed amounts and remaining funding by project and level.
  4. 4Identify which limit is binding: funded amount, the contract ceiling, a labor-category or ODC sub-limit, or a billing limit. Billing holds and revenue caps follow the specific limit.
  5. 5If a modification added funding, enter it through your normal process with the effective date and reference, then reprocess billing for the affected period.
  6. 6If no modification exists, notify the program manager and contracts team at once. Limitation of cost clauses typically require advance notice to the government before the funded amount is reached.
  7. 7Do not move cost to another project or remove it to clear the hold. Resolve it through funding or an approved correction.

Funding, ceiling and limit are three different things

Contract value is what the contract could pay if fully exercised. Funded amount is what the government has actually obligated, and on incrementally funded cost contracts it is usually less than the value. The ceiling is the maximum cost the contractor may incur and be reimbursed. A project can be below its ceiling and still out of funding.

Costpoint holds these as separate settings so billing and revenue can respect each. When a user says the invoice is stuck, ask which limit; the answer changes the fix. Out of funding means get a modification. Over a sub-limit means a contract change or reallocation, if the contract allows it.

What happens to billing and revenue

When a project is configured to enforce limits, the billing and revenue processes cap amounts at the limit. The excess stays as unbilled cost, so the work is not lost, but it is not invoiced. That shows up as growing unbilled receivables on the balance sheet and is a cash flow issue as well as a compliance one.

Watch how the cap interacts with fee. On a cost-plus-fee contract, fee is often calculated on allowable cost up to the limit, so an overrun can silently reduce earned fee. Review the fee calculation after any limit change and reprocess if the effective date goes back to a prior period.

Weekly funding watch (concept)
  For each open cost-type project:
    remaining_funding = funded_amount - billed_to_date
    burn_rate        = average weekly incurred cost, last 8 weeks
    weeks_left       = remaining_funding / burn_rate
  Flag when weeks_left < notice period in the contract

Preventing the surprise

Most overruns are discovered at invoice time because nobody was watching the burn rate. Build a weekly funding watch for every cost-type project. Compare remaining funding to the average recent weekly cost and flag any project whose remaining runway is shorter than the notice period in the contract.

Also make sure contract modifications enter Costpoint the same week they are signed. A common root cause is a signed modification sitting in a contracts folder while the project still shows the old funding. A simple checklist at modification signing, with a named owner, prevents most of these holds.

Common pitfalls

  • !Raising the limit in Costpoint without a signed modification to support it.
  • !Treating contract value as funded amount and overspending the actual obligation.
  • !Moving costs to another project to clear a hold, which is a mischarge.
  • !Ignoring the notice requirement in a limitation of cost clause until funding is exhausted.
  • !Forgetting to reprocess billing and fee after a retroactive modification.
  • !Letting unbilled receivables age without anyone owning the funding fix.

How an ERP-grounded AI assistant handles this

A grounded assistant can answer 'which projects will run out of funding in the next six weeks' by combining funded amount, billed to date and recent cost burn, and list the ones inside their contract notice window. Because it reads the data live and shows the query, project managers can check the logic. It does not change funding; changes need a signed modification and your usual approvals.

See ERPray

Frequently asked questions

Why is my invoice lower than the cost I incurred?

If limits are enforced, billing is capped at the funded amount or the applicable limit and the excess remains unbilled. Compare the invoice to the project's funding and limit settings, and confirm whether a pending modification should raise them.

Can I keep working while we wait for funding?

That is a contract and legal question. Limitation of cost and limitation of funds clauses restrict reimbursement for costs beyond funding, and you may be incurring cost at your own risk. Ask your contracts team before directing staff to continue.

Where do I see remaining funding by project?

Use the project status or funding-related reports in Costpoint, or a saved query comparing funded amount to billed and incurred cost. Most teams add a weekly report so remaining funding is reviewed before invoices are run.

Does this apply to fixed-price contracts?

Not in the same way. Fixed-price billing follows milestones or percent complete rather than cost reimbursement limits, though the project may still have a contract value. The funding and ceiling logic mainly applies to cost-type and T&M work.

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