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A billable expense is one your client pays for. Turn on Billable to client when you submit it, add an optional markup, and the approved expense becomes available to put on an invoice.

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Billable vs internal

Every expense is one or the other. Both kinds are recorded, reviewed and reportable. The flag decides one thing: whether the cost can be recovered from the client. This mirrors the same idea for hours. See billable vs non-billable.

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How billable value is calculated

Billable value is what the client is charged.
The form shows this formula under the Markup % field. Worked examples on a $240 expense: Check the middle row: 240 × 1.15 = 276. The client pays 276,youpaid276, you paid 240, so you keep $36.
The maths runs in exact decimals, not floating point. A long chain of expenses will not drift by a cent.

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When to add a markup

Cover handling cost

A 10–15% markup covers the admin of buying, tracking and fronting the cash for a client purchase.

Match your contract

Many agency contracts specify a fixed pass-through markup. Enter that number.

Bill at cost

Leave the markup blank for a straight pass-through. Many clients require this for travel.
A markup can only exist on a billable expense. If you turn Billable to client off, any markup you typed is cleared. A negative markup is rejected – an expense is never billed below cost through this field.

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Who sees what

An expense carries two money figures, and they are not equally visible. A Project Manager or Finance reviewer sees 276withoutseeingthatyoupaid276 without seeing that you paid 240. That is the cost firewall, and it works the same way for cost rates. You always see the full detail on your own expenses.

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How a billable expense reaches an invoice

1

Submit it as billable

Turn Billable to client on and pick the client. An expense with no client cannot be matched to that client’s invoice.
2

Get it approved

Only an approved expense is invoiceable. A draft, submitted or rejected one is not.
3

Build the invoice

Create an invoice for the client. The builder shows a Billable expenses section listing approved billable expenses with their billable value.
4

Tick the expenses to include

Each row shows the category and the billable value, for example Software – $276.00 billable.
5

Save the invoice

Each selected expense moves to invoiced and becomes an invoice line.
Full detail on the invoice itself is on create an invoice.

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The invoice line

The line uses:
  • Description – the expense’s description, or the category name when there is none
  • Quantity – always 1
  • Amount – the billable value, converted if the invoice currency differs

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Currency conversion

If the expense currency differs from the invoice currency, an exchange rate must exist for that pair on the invoice date. TimeTracker never falls back to a silent 1:1 rate. A missing pair is refused rather than guessed, because a silent 1:1 would mis-price the invoice. Add the rate first. See currencies and exchange rates.

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Why invoiced is a status

Once an expense is on an invoice it must not change. Editing a $276 line after the client has the invoice would put your records and theirs out of step. So invoiced is a terminal status. An invoiced expense cannot be edited, withdrawn, re-approved or deleted. Corrections happen on the invoice.
Adding a billable expense to an invoice writes to the Expenses app. If Expenses is switched off, the invoice build is refused rather than quietly dropping the expense – an invoice that silently under-bills is worse than one that fails loudly.

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Example

Sarah Lin buys a stock photo licence for the Bluebird Coffee Website Redesign.
1

Sarah files it

Amount 240, currency USD, category Software, client Bluebird Coffee, project Website Redesign. Billable to client on, markup 15.
2

The app calculates the billable value

240 × 1.15 = $276.00. Sarah’s log shows a Billable +15% chip.
3

Daniel approves it

In Approvals → Expenses → Awaiting, Daniel Okafor sees Sarah Lin · Software · $276.00 · Billable +15% and a View receipt link. He approves.
4

Daniel invoices Bluebird

He creates an invoice for Bluebird Coffee. Under Billable expenses he sees Software – $276.00 billable and ticks it.
5

The expense locks

On save, the expense moves to invoiced. Bluebird’s invoice carries a 276line.Northwind′srecordsshow276 line. Northwind's records show 240 paid out and $36 of margin on the pass-through.

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What a billable expense does not do

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Permissions

Invoicing is a Pro feature. See plans and features.

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Common questions

No. An approved expense is locked. Ask a reviewer to withdraw their approval, which returns it to the queue, then have them reject it so you can rework it. An invoiced expense cannot be changed at all.
Yes. Leave Markup % blank or enter 0. The client is charged exactly what you paid.
Withdraw it to draft first, turn the switch on, then submit again. A submitted expense cannot be edited.
Check three things: it is approved and not still submitted, Billable to client is on, and it is filed against the client you are invoicing.
It stays invoiced and attached to that draft invoice. It is not available to a second invoice, which is what stops double billing.
It shows an Internal chip rather than a billable one, and it never appears in the invoice builder.

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Troubleshooting

Create an invoice

Build the invoice your billable expenses land on.

Expense statuses

Why invoiced is terminal.

Billable vs non-billable

The same distinction applied to hours.

Submit an expense

Setting the billable flag and markup.

Currencies and exchange rates

Converting an expense onto an invoice.

Profitability and margin

How markup contributes to what you keep.