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Most people in your organization will never open Spend Management — they just use Airia. This page explains what spending under a budget looks like for them, so you know exactly what your users see before and when a limit is reached. A budget can be enforced on someone at three levels — as an individual User, through a Project they’re working in, or through a Gateway they’re using — and a person can be subject to more than one at once.

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Warnings before a limit

As spend approaches a limit, Airia shows a warning banner in chat under the heading Budget warnings. The banner names the level, how far along it is, and when it resets. For example: 
You've used 80% of your monthly spending limit. Resets [date].
If more than one limit is getting close at the same time, the banner summarizes them — for example, 2 spending limits approaching — and your users can minimize or expand it.
As an administrator, you control how early these banners appear. Where the Show end-user warnings starting at setting is available, you choose the percentage at which warnings begin (or Never to turn them off). Its helper text says it plainly: End users will see a warning banner in chat when they reach this percentage of their limit.

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When a limit is reached

If a budget has a Hard Limit enabled, requests are blocked once spend reaches 100%. The banner then tells the user that chat is paused and when it will resume: 
You've reached your monthly spending limit. Chat is paused. Resets [date].
Paused, not lost. When a budget resets — nightly for daily budgets, and at the start of the week or month for weekly and monthly budgets — usage resumes automatically. Nothing your users created is removed.
If your budget has Hard Limit turned off, your users won’t be blocked when a limit is passed — they’ll still see warnings, but chat keeps working. Enabling Hard Limit is what turns a warning into a pause. See Enforcement policy.

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Spending controls give users room

When you’ve enabled the Spending controls on a budget, users have some flexibility once they reach a limit:
  • Allow to resume lets them resume their spending after reaching the limit.
  • Allow to edit lets them edit their spending after reaching the limit.
If these aren’t enabled, a reached Hard Limit stays paused until the budget resets or an administrator adjusts it.

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Email alerts for the right people

Banners keep your users informed in the moment. Budget alerts keep administrators and stakeholders informed by email. When spend crosses a threshold you’ve set (for example 50%, 80%, or 95%), everyone on the Send budget alerts to: list is emailed automatically — so the people responsible for a budget hear about it even if they aren’t in the app. Set thresholds and recipients in Budget Policies → Budget alerts.
Pair the two: set in-app warnings early so users can self-correct, and add a high email threshold (like 95%) so a budget owner is notified before anyone is paused.