# Utilisation Variance Notifications Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/notifications/utilisation-variance-notifications > Get notified when actual budget utilisation deviates from the planned usage by a set percentage. ## Overview Create Utilisation Variance Notifications to alert selected people when a Service is spending faster or more slowly than planned. To manage [Utilisation Variance Notifications](https://app.astalty.com.au/notifications/utilisation-variance), head to the [Notifications](https://app.astalty.com.au/notifications) page in the main menu and click **Utilisation Variance** in the **Plans & Services** group. Only Admins can manage these notifications. This can't be changed per user. For each Service on a Participant's current plan, Astalty compares the percentage of the budget used with the percentage of the plan time elapsed. ## Creating a Utilisation Variance Notification Select **Create Notification**. A new notification is set to 10% **overspending**, with **Primary Coordinator**, **Service Coordinator**, **Within Astalty** and **Email** ticked. ![The Utilisation Variance Notifications page with no notifications yet, and the Create Notification button highlighted at the top right.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/screen-shot-2023-12-03-at-1.19.02-pm-1703566728.png) ### Notification Details #### When would you like to send the notification? - Decide when you want the notification to be sent. It will be triggered when the difference between the budget used and the plan elapsed percentage reaches the specified threshold. - Enter your percentage (for example 10, 20 or 30) in the **Used %** box. It must be a whole number of at least 1. - Choose the type of variance in the drop-down beside it: - **overspending**: the budget is being used faster than the plan time is passing. - **underspending**: the budget is being used more slowly than the plan time is passing. - **any**: either direction. #### Which Services do you want this notification to apply to? Choose the support **Categories** of the Services you want to be notified about. At least one is required. - You can select multiple categories as needed, such as Support Coordination and Daily Activities. ![The Utilisation Variance Notification form with Used % set to 10 and Type set to overspending, and the Categories field set to 07 - Support Coordination under Which Services do you want this notification to apply to?](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/screen-shot-2023-12-03-at-1.23.49-pm-1703566805.png) ### Notification Email Content Optional. Anything you add here is included in the email. It does not appear in the in-app notification. ### Notification Recipients Select at least one recipient. #### Primary Coordinator Tick this option if you would like to notify the Participant's Primary Coordinator. #### Service Coordinator Tick this option if you would like to notify the Service Coordinator of the Service that crossed the threshold. Each Service on a plan can have its own coordinator, for example a Psychosocial Recovery Coach or a Level Three Support Coordinator, so only the coordinator responsible for that Service is told. #### User Groups Select one or more [User Groups](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/users-settings/user-groups). **Support Worker** and **All Users** are not available here. #### Users Select individual users who should receive the notification. ### Notification Methods Select at least one method. #### Within Astalty Recipients get an in-app notification titled **Utilisation Alert**. It says whether the Participant is overspending or underspending and links to their utilisation. #### Email Recipients get an email. Click **Add Notification** to save. The list shows each notification's **% Used**, **Type**, **Categories**, **Delivery** methods and **Recipients**. Click a row to edit it, or use its actions menu to **Edit**, **Clone** or **Delete** it. ## Pro Tip: Real-Time Alerts Variance is checked after charges are added, changed or removed for the Participant. Astalty also checks monitored Services overnight, at about 4am Brisbane time. This can detect a change caused by time passing or funding being released, even when no new charge has been added. A notification is sent the first time the variance reaches its threshold. Before the same direction can trigger again, the variance must fall by a margin. For a threshold of 10% or more, it must fall at least 5 percentage points below that threshold. For example, a 10% overspending alert can send again after overspending falls to 5% or less and then reaches 10% again. For thresholds below 10%, the margin is half the threshold rounded down, with a minimum of 1 percentage point. Overspending and underspending are tracked separately, including when you choose **any**. When a check takes a Service past several thresholds at once, each person receives only the alert for the highest threshold. > **The first overnight check does not catch up old variance alerts** > > For an established Service with no recent monitoring history, the first overnight check records its current position without sending a variance alert. This also applies when monitoring resumes after more than 36 hours without a check. Later checks can alert when the variance crosses a threshold. Newly created Services, or Services that started within the last 2 days, can alert on their first overnight check. ## FAQs ### How will Utilisation Variance Notifications work for Funding Periods? For a Service with funding periods, the budget used is measured against the funding released so far (the total of every funding period that has started), and the time elapsed is measured across those released periods. For example, a notification set at 10% **overspending** alerts you when spending is 10 percentage points ahead of the time elapsed in the funding released to date. ## Video Guide The video explains Utilisation Notifications. Video walkthrough: utilisation notifications.