Can I set different spending limits for different teams or projects?
Yes. Engine gives you granular control over spending at the team, role, and project level. Instead of one blanket policy that forces your field crews and executives into the same box, you configure limits that match how your business actually operates. Set caps by job title, department, project code, or location. The limits enforce themselves at the point of booking, so out-of-policy options never appear in search results.
What types of spending limits can I set for different teams?
Engine supports multiple limit types across travel categories, including lodging, airfare, car rentals, and meals. Configure these limits by role, department, or location.
A foreman might get a $175 nightly hotel cap while an apprentice gets $125. A sales team traveling to New York gets different per diem limits than an operations team working a rural job site in West Texas. The platform adjusts for market realities instead of forcing everyone into unrealistic thresholds.
Time-based controls add another layer: daily, weekly, monthly, or per-rotation caps for project-based work schedules.
How do I set up spending limits for specific projects?
Engine uses Custom Fields to tag every booking with the right project or job code at checkout. Configure these fields to match your existing cost structure: project numbers, client names, PO numbers, cost center codes, and department identifiers. Mark fields as required so nothing slips through untagged.
Project codes automatically attach to reservations, invoices, and expense records without manual data entry. Your finance team sees travel expenses allocated correctly from day one, eliminating weeks-long delays common with post-trip reconciliation.
What happens when a team reaches their spending limit?
The platform blocks non-compliant bookings before any money leaves your account. If a hotel exceeds the crew's nightly cap, it doesn't appear in search results. If a flight class violates policy, it's not an option.
When legitimate exceptions come up, such as weather delays or last-minute project changes common in construction, travelers submit policy exception requests with justification. You review and approve legitimate needs in minutes. Routine bookings within policy require no approval, so compliant travel moves fast.
You get configurable alerts when teams approach spending thresholds. Finance tracks spending patterns by project without approving every individual booking.
How do spending limits help with project cost tracking?
Sims Crane managed heavy lodging spending across multiple project sites with no visibility into total costs. Before Engine, employees booked through random travel sites, paid with personal cards, and submitted receipts weeks later.
With Engine, Sims Crane deployed role-based spending caps, point-of-booking policy enforcement, and Custom Fields for automatic project code tagging. Travelers selected project codes from a dropdown at checkout, so every charge was allocated correctly from the start.
The result: Sims Crane avoided $40,000+ in modification fees through FlexPro protection and cut booking time by 5x with consolidated invoicing, replacing scattered receipts.
Can I adjust spending limits mid-project?
Yes. Projects shift. Timelines extend. Scope changes. Your spending limits should flex with operational reality.
When a project extends from six months to nine months, update your project-level budget allocation in Engine. When crews relocate to a higher-cost market, configure location-based limits without reconfiguring your entire policy structure.
This flexibility matters for project-based businesses where nothing goes exactly according to plan. Equipment delays push schedules. Weather cancels work for a week. Client requests expand scope. Engine handles reality instead of forcing your operations into rigid categories that break the moment something changes.
