How do I set a budget for my small business?

Start from last month's spending by category, decide which categories you want to hold or cut, and set a monthly limit for each. In ereQa, add a limit per category on the Budget Goals page.

How do I stop overspending?

Watch the categories that drift, not just the total. A monthly limit per category, checked during the month rather than after it, gives you time to act. ereQa warns you at 75%, 90% and 100% of each limit on the Budget Goals page.

What should a business budget include?

Your expected income, fixed costs such as rent, salaries and subscriptions, variable costs such as transport, power and marketing, tax, and a margin for the unexpected.

Does ereQa send budget alerts?

Not by email or notification. The warnings appear on the Budget Goals page, so check it during the month.

Do receipts and manual expenses count towards budgets?

No. Budgets count spending on the bank statements you upload. Upload the month's statement to keep them current.

VAT returns and withholding tax due 21 November. See the calendar →

ereQa

Platform

All features

Invoicing, expenses, bank statements, contracts and AI, from one dashboard.

See every feature

Get paid

Track money

Win the work

Insights

Customer story

How Lagos Coffee Co. cut invoice time by 80%

Solutions

Built for Nigerian businesses

Get paid faster, track every naira, and grow your client base from one dashboard.

See how it works

By workflow

By industry

Compare

Customer story

Abuja Logistics moved off spreadsheets for good

Learn

Resource center

Guides, free tools, and docs to get your books live faster.

Browse resources

Learn

Free tools

From the blog

The AI review that paid for itself in a month

Budget goals

Set a budget. See when you overspend.

Q: What is budget vs actual?

A comparison of planned spending with real spending for the same period. ereQa shows it per category for the current month, using the bank statements you upload.

Set a monthly limit for each spending category. ereQa totals this month's spending from your uploaded bank statements and shows how much of each limit is used, warning you at 75%, 90% and 100%.

Start free Book a demo

Budgets count bank-statement spending, so they need statement upload (Starter and above).

17spending categories you can budget
1monthly limit per category
75%first warning, then 90% and 100%
4bands: on track, warning, danger, over

See it in action

Budget vs actual, every month

Set a budget

One monthly limit per category

CategoryTransport

Monthly limit₦100,000

Under 75%Spending is on trackGood
75% of the limitTime to watch itWarning
90% of the limitClose to the limitDanger
100% or moreOver budgetOver

Save budget

Set the limits

Pick a category and enter a monthly limit. Set one for each category you want to watch.

17 categories
One limit per category
Change it any time

Budget vs actual

What is budget vs actual?

Budget vs actual compares what you planned to spend in a category with what you really spent. The gap tells you where to look: a category over budget is a decision to make, not just a number.

Set the budget before the month starts
Compare it with actual spending as the month goes on
Adjust next month's budget, or the spending, based on the gap

Budget Goals

October 2026 · from your bank statements

This month

MarketingOver

₦315k of ₦300k105%

TransportDanger

₦92k of ₦100k92%

UtilitiesWarning

₦61k of ₦80k76%

SoftwareOn track

₦40k of ₦120k33%

How it counts

Built from your bank statement

Counts payments out on the statements you upload, for the current month
Expenses added by hand and receipt scans are not counted
Upload each month's statement to keep your budgets current

GTBank statement

Kola Studio Ltd · 1–31 Oct 2026 · NGN

Oct 2026

Transactions

124

Money in

₦2.43M

Money out

₦1.78M

Transfer · Bright AgencyIncome+₦850,000Income
POS · Shoprite LekkiOffice−₦18,450Pushed
Bolt BusinessTransport · recurring−₦31,500Pushed
NIP transfer 0098…Uncategorised−₦60,000Review

Change categoryPush selected to expenses

At a glance

Four bands, no surprises

Under 75% of the limit: on track
75%: warning. 90%: danger. 100%: over budget
Shown on the Budget Goals page; ereQa does not send budget emails

Set a budget

One monthly limit per category

CategoryTransport

Monthly limit₦100,000

Under 75%Spending is on trackGood
75% of the limitTime to watch itWarning
90% of the limitClose to the limitDanger
100% or moreOver budgetOver

Save budget

Part of Expense tracking

Everything in expense tracking

Expense tracking

Scan receipts, pull spending from bank statements and set monthly budgets per category.

Explore expense tracking

Receipt scanning

Photograph a receipt and eQ AI fills in the expense for you to check.

Also in ereQa

Frequently asked questions

Expand allView all FAQs

Start from last month's spending by category, decide which categories you want to hold or cut, and set a monthly limit for each. In ereQa, add a limit per category on the Budget Goals page.

Set your first budget.
Start free, no card.

Start on the free plan. Budgets use bank statement upload, which is on Starter and above.

Start free See pricing

All features

How Lagos Coffee Co. cut invoice time by 80%

Built for Nigerian businesses

Abuja Logistics moved off spreadsheets for good

Resource center

The AI review that paid for itself in a month

About ereQa

Built in Nigeria, for how Nigerian businesses work

Set a budget. See when you overspend.

Budget vs actual, every month

Set the limits

What is budget vs actual?

Built from your bank statement

Four bands, no surprises

Everything in expense tracking

Expense tracking

Receipt scanning

Works with the rest of your books

Expense tracking

Receipt scanning

Financial reports

Bank statement upload

Frequently asked questions

Set your first budget.
Start free, no card.

Start managing your business.
Your growth won't wait.

Set a budget. See when you overspend.

Budget vs actual, every month

Set the limits

What is budget vs actual?

Built from your bank statement

Four bands, no surprises

Everything in expense tracking

Expense tracking

Receipt scanning

Works with the rest of your books

Expense tracking

Receipt scanning

Financial reports

Bank statement upload

Frequently asked questions

Set your first budget.Start free, no card.

Start managing your business.Your growth won't wait.

Set your first budget.
Start free, no card.

Start managing your business.
Your growth won't wait.