---
title: Manage quotas
description: Quotas cap completes for specific groups. They help you balance your sample and avoid overrepresentation.
---

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# Manage quotas

## Quotas cap completes for specific groups. They help you balance your sample and avoid overrepresentation.

### How to build a quota

1. Open *Quotas* in the left menu and click *New quota*
2. Name your quota
3. Set a response count limit e.g., 500
4. Select question or variable and set your conditions
5. Select an outcome for *Once quota limit is reached:*  
     - **No action** — Track only. The session continues.
     - **Prevent new entries** — Block any new starts after the cap.
     - **Mark as over quota** — End the session and show a closed message.
     - **Mark as over quota and delete** — Same outcome, but auto-deletes the response.
     - **Disqualify** — End the session and show a you're not a fit message.
     - **Disqualify and delete** — Same outcome, but auto-deletes the response.
     - **End survey (mark as complete)** — Ends the survey and counts the response as a full complete.
     - **Redirect to a custom URL** — Send the respondent to your link and select your outcome (complete, partial, disqualified, over quota).
6. Click *Save*
7. Duplicate your quota from the side panel as needed to quickly create a similar quota.
8. *Publish* to make your quotas take effect.

### Key information

- Quotas are based on completed responses.
- Quota counting is retroactive. If you add a quota mid-collection, it will still fully populate.
- Quota progress is also reported on the *Analyze* page.
- Use the outcome *Mark as over quota* for all [Audience Panel](https://www.centiment.co/audience-panel) quotas.

### Example: balance 1,000 completes by gender

Set *Total completes* to 1,000 and choose *Mark as over quota*. Create two new quotas based on a gender question: one for male and one for female. Set each quota to 500 with an out come of *Mark as over quota*. *Publish* to enforce.

### Overcollection best practice

Over-allocate by about 3 percent. This gives room to remove low-quality responses without missing targets. For 1,000 completes, set *Total completes* to 1,030 and each gender quota to 515.

 

 

 

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