Manage Scout Agent spending in two ways. A monthly budget puts a ceiling on what Scout Agent outcomes and phone usage can add to your invoice. Triggers, approval rules and contact limits control the work itself: which checks run, when, and what needs a person to agree first.

A budget is a ceiling, not a target. Cartograph reserves the cost of chargeable work before that work starts, so a covered charge cannot take you past the amount you set. When the budget runs out, new billable work pauses instead of proceeding and billing.

Scout outcome charges depend on the task type, Scout’s role, and the number of qualifying units successfully completed. Telephone usage is separate. Read Scout Agent outcomes for the billing rules.

Open Settings → Billing and find Spend management. You need billing administrator permissions, and your workspace needs a payment method before a budget can be set.

There are two independent budgets, and neither one borrows from the other:

Turn a budget on, enter a monthly amount, and confirm. Cartograph then reconciles the current cycle against your billing provider before the budget takes effect, which usually takes a moment; the budget reads Setting up until that finishes. Charges already incurred this cycle and work already running count toward the budget straight away, so the confirmation shows you what is already committed before you agree to it.

To change an amount later, select Edit budget. To remove the ceiling, turn the budget off. Both go through the same confirmation, because raising, lowering and removing a budget all change what Scout Agent is allowed to do next.

The bar under each budget separates two different things:

Reserving first is what makes the ceiling hold. If a task is authorized while budget remains and then costs less than expected, the unused part of its reservation returns to your available budget. Nothing is charged for a reservation that is never used.

New billable work in that category pauses. Work that was already funded keeps going and is still charged, because Cartograph reserved it while there was budget for it. The budget shows New work paused while that funded work is finishing and Paused once nothing is running.

A connected call is treated the same way but with a funded allowance: a call that is already connected is allowed to finish. If it runs past what its budget funded, Cartograph absorbs the difference rather than cutting the call off or billing you past your ceiling. The next call is refused until budget is available.

Paused work is not cancelled. When the budget resets or you raise it, eligible paused tasks resume on their own. Other approvals and billing restrictions still apply, so a task waiting on a person keeps waiting on that person.

Each budget resets at the start of your billing cycle, and the card shows the next reset date. A reset returns the full amount; unused budget does not carry over.

Billing administrators are notified in the app and by email when a budget passes 50% and 75%, and whenever a category pauses or resumes. You do not need to watch the page.

A budget bounds the two metered products it names. It is not a ceiling on your whole invoice. These are outside it:

Two more things worth knowing. Changing a budget mid-cycle applies to work admitted from that point on; it does not retract work already authorized under the previous amount. And the opening balance is read from your billing provider, which rates usage continuously, so the first figures after you set a budget can lag real time by a small amount.

A budget bounds the money. Triggers bound the work, which is still worth setting deliberately: the cheapest outcome is the one you did not need. Open Scout → Deploy → Triggers. You need the appropriate workspace administration permissions to change these settings.

For example, you could confirm orders that still need a confirmed date after a chosen number of days, check shipments on their expected date, and skip records that your team handles directly. The fields and timing options available depend on the check.

The schedule shows projected tasks based on current records and trigger settings. Use it to spot a rule that would create more work than intended before enabling it.

A projected task count is not a price quote. One task can contain multiple order lines, shipments, or supplied items. Actual outcome charges depend on which units succeed and whether Scout leads or assists. New data and changed dates can also change the schedule.

To estimate outcome costs, consider the expected successful units for each task type and multiply them by the applicable Scout rate. A budget is the backstop for that estimate being wrong.

In Scout’s deployment settings for Email and Phone, review the channel’s approval rules and per-contact limits. Contact limits combine a maximum number of contacts with a rolling time window.

For example, a limit of two phone contacts within eight hours means a further call to that contact within the window needs human approval once the limit is reached. A matching approval rule can also require review before an action proceeds.

These are approval gates, and they work alongside a budget rather than instead of one. They govern whether Scout may proceed autonomously on a particular action. An approved action still creates usage, and a per-contact limit does not limit the total number of contacts across your workspace. The budget is what bounds the total.

To stop new scheduled work from Triggers, select Turn off on the Triggers page. To reduce only part of the workload, disable an individual check or category, adjust its timing, or add a skip condition.

Turning Triggers off stops new task creation from that schedule. It does not cancel tasks already created, reverse completed usage, or disable work started through other channels. Review existing tasks separately if you also want to stop work already underway.

Open Settings → Usage to review costs and usage by period and product, and Settings → Billing for your budgets, payment method and invoices. Access depends on your workspace permissions.

Review usage alongside the upcoming trigger schedule. If more work is being generated than you want, narrow the relevant rules or turn them off. For enterprise deployments and custom task types, work with Sales on the scope and custom pricing.

Yes. Set a Scout Agent Budget in Settings → Billing. New billable Scout Agent work pauses automatically when the budget is used up, and resumes when it resets or you raise it. Phone usage has its own budget and is bounded separately.

Yes. Billing administrators are notified in the app and by email at 50% and 75% of a budget, and whenever a category pauses or resumes.

Not for the work the budget covers. Cartograph reserves the cost before the work starts, so it cannot be authorized without budget for it. Charges outside the two metered products, such as subscriptions, phone number rentals, taxes and anything priced separately in your agreement, are not bounded by it.

It finishes. A connected call runs on a funded allowance, and if it goes beyond what the budget funded, Cartograph absorbs the difference. The next call is refused until budget is available.

No. Disabling a trigger changes future scheduled task creation. Completed billable outcomes and telephone usage remain subject to your billing terms.

Yes. Enterprise customers can work with Sales to deploy custom task types and develop custom pricing. Contact Sales to discuss your requirements.