Features Below Available To: ✅ Grow Plan ✅ Track Plan ❌ Free Plan
After creating the project and adding Services and consultant fee services, the next step is to set up the Direct Expenses budget on the Project Budget page.
The Direct Expenses tab is where expense budgets are defined, either as a single budget for all expenses or as separate budgets by expense category. This section also allows for configuring project-specific expense markups.
Note: Expense budgets are not applied retroactively to existing projects. For projects that were created before this setup, expense budgets must be configured manually within each project’s Direct Expenses tab.
Adding a Budget
To begin adding an expense budget, click Add Budget. The budgeting method selected will determine how the expense budget is structured in the Direct Expenses tab.
Continue reading to determine which scenario is best suited: a single budget for all expenses or separate budgets by expense category.
Select a Budget Method
Single Expense Budget
A single expense budget applies one total budget across all expenses for the project. When this option is selected, all expenses recorded for the project will draw from the same budget amount.
This approach works well for projects where expense tracking does not require category-level budgeting.
Multiple Expense Budgets
Selecting this option allows budgets to be separated by specific expense categories.
Begin selecting the relevant expense categories associated with the project. If an expense category is not listed or added here, it will not have a budget associated with it if used later in the project.
After selecting the budgeting method and clicking Add, you will then be directed to the Direct Expenses page, where single or multiple expense budgets can be entered. As the budgets are entered, this should update the Expenses total budget at the top of the budget details.
🚨 Expense budgeting methods cannot be mixed. A project must use either a single expense budget or multiple category-based budgets.
Expense Markups
Project-specific expense markups can be configured from the Direct Expenses tab.
Start by selecting an expense category from the dropdown menu, or choose Select all categories for faster setup. Click the purple pencil icon to enter the markup percentage associated with the selected category or categories.
Expense markups default to the percentages set in Firm Settings, but they can be adjusted at the project level as needed based on the contract.
Click Go to Settings to see the firm-wide default expense markup settings.
Editing an Expense Budget
To edit an expense budget, navigate to Project Budget → Direct Expenses, then click the single or multiple expense budget amount. Updating the value will automatically update the total expense budget displayed at the top of the page.
If an expense budget is edited after invoices have been issued, a pink banner will appear. This banner indicates that changes may create inconsistencies with open or paid invoices, as those invoices reference the original budget to calculate Planned Budget and Percentage Complete.
Deleting an Expense Budget
To delete an expense budget, navigate to Project Budget → Direct Expenses, locate the expense, and click the X icon on the right side of the row.
If expenses tied to the budget have already been invoiced—whether under a single or multiple expense budget—the delete option will be disabled. Expense budgets cannot be removed once invoicing has occurred for that project.
📖 Users must have Edit Project permissions to configure expense budgets on projects.
Next Steps for Project Creation
Now that you've finished adding Firm services, consultants' fees, and Direct expenses, now what? Make sure that the project's budget information and team assignments have been added in the Project Budget page, and then add any additional project Details to ensure that the project is fully set up.