In Productive, the Project Manager and Budget Owner are two distinct roles, but they don't have to be held by different people.
In many teams, especially smaller ones, one person covers both. The distinction becomes relevant when you want to split accountability: one person focused on project delivery, another on financial oversight.
If your team has someone who handles delivery and someone who handles finances, split the roles. If one person does both, there's no need to change anything: they can hold both roles at once.
📌 When a project and budget are created together, the same person is assigned as both by default. You can change this at any point in the project or budget settings.
Who Is a Project Manager?
The Project Manager is responsible for the day-to-day execution of a project: tasks, timelines, and team collaboration.
Responsibilities include:
Managing tasks, milestones, and deliverables
Tracking and distributing estimated time across tasks
Accessing all docs and files related to the project
Adjusting sharing permissions for the project
Linking tasks to services from connected budgets or deals, so time tracked on a task is automatically logged against the right service
Minimum permission set required: Manager (unrestricted or restricted)
The Manager permission set gives access to budget usage (budgeted, billable, and remaining time), but not to profitability metrics like revenue, cost, or profit.
If a Project Manager also needs visibility into financials, they'll need the Profitability Manager permission set or a custom permission set.
Who Is a Budget Owner?
The Budget Owner is accountable for the financial side of a budget ensuring tracked time and expenses stay within budget and that profitability is maintained.
Responsibilities include:
Monitoring profitability metrics: revenue, cost, profit, and invoicing
Receiving warnings when budget thresholds are reached
Sharing the budget with team members who need to track time or log expenses
Using the Scenario Builder to compare budget setups and plan for profitability
👉 For approval responsibilities, see A Note on Approvals below
Minimum permission set required: Profitability Manager
The Profitability Manager permission set is what gives the Budget Owner access to financial data. If someone is assigned as Budget Owner but only has the Manager permission set, they won't be able to see revenue, cost, or profit, even though the role implies that responsibility.
📌 Each budget within a project can have a different Budget Owner if needed.
Who Can Approve Time and Expenses?
Approving time entries and expenses is not tied exclusively to the Budget Owner role. When setting up time and expense approvals for a budget, you can assign any of the following as approvers:
The Budget Owner
The Project Manager (if the budget is part of a project)
The manager of the person submitting the entry
A specific person
This means the Project Manager can be a designated approver for time and expenses without being the Budget Owner.
👉 Learn more in Time Approval in Budgets and Expense Approval: Setup and Flow.
Key Differences
The table below summarizes how the two roles differ in focus, access, and permissions.
The key differentiator is the View Profitability permission, along with access to deal and budget scenarios.
Permissions and Access
Unrestricted Managers / Profitability Managers can access all projects and budgets across the organization.
Restricted Managers / Profitability Managers only see projects and budgets they manage or have been added to.
Admins have full access to all projects, budgets, and metrics.
📌 Regardless of which role a person holds, their actual access is determined by their permission set (not the role label itself).
👉 Learn how to adjust user permissions.
Can One Person Hold Both Roles?
Yes, and it's common, especially in smaller teams. A single person can manage tasks, approve time entries, and oversee profitability all at once.
Splitting the roles makes more sense when you want separate accountability: one person focused on delivery, another on financials.
What About the Deal Owner?
Deals in Productive also have an assigned Deal Owner — the person responsible for managing a deal through the sales pipeline.
The Deal Owner role is similar in concept to the Budget Owner:
The Deal Owner can be set as a dynamic approver for time entries and expenses on a deal alongside the submitter's manager and the Project Manager (if the deal is linked to a project)
When a deal is won and a budget is created from it, the Deal Owner is automatically set as both the Budget Owner and the Project Manager in the creation wizard, though you can change this before confirming
📌 Once a deal is won and a budget is created, you can reassign the Budget Owner and Project Manager as needed.
How to Assign These Roles
Assign a Project Manager:
Open the project sidebar and click Edit Project.
Select the team member responsible for managing the project.
Assign a Budget Owner:
Open the budget sidebar and click Edit General Budget Info.
Select the team member responsible for the budget's financial performance.
Assign a Deal Owner:
Open the deal sidebar and click Edit General Deal Info.
Select the team member responsible for the deal.
📌 Make sure the person's permission set matches their responsibilities.
Assigning someone as Budget Owner without Profitability Manager permissions (or equivalent) means they won't have access to the financial data the role requires.