> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Expenses overview

> Track project costs like travel, software and equipment in TimeTracker. Learn how expenses are submitted, approved, marked billable and put on an invoice.

Expenses record money your team spends on client work – a flight, a stock photo licence, a software seat. Each expense carries a receipt, a category and a client or project, so the cost lands on the right job.

## What are expenses?

An expense is one amount of money someone paid, filed against your workspace.

Every expense has:

* an **amount** and a **currency**
* an **expense date** – when the money was spent
* a **category** – Travel, Software, and so on
* an optional **client** and **project**
* a **billable** flag, and an optional **markup %** when billable
* an optional **receipt** file

Expenses answer the half of project cost that time tracking cannot. Hours tell you what the work cost in labour. Expenses tell you what the work cost in cash.

## When to use them

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Passing a cost to a client" icon="receipt">
    Sarah buys a \$240 stock photo licence for Bluebird Coffee. She marks it billable so it can go on the next invoice.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Recording an internal cost" icon="building">
    Jonas expenses a \$310 trip to Harbor Logistics that Northwind absorbs. He leaves billable off, so it stays internal.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reimbursing a person" icon="wallet">
    Ana pays for a font licence out of her own pocket. Submitting it as an expense creates the record Finance reviews.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Seeing true project cost" icon="chart-line">
    An Expenses report groups spend by project and client, so you can see which jobs eat cash outside of hours.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How it works

An expense moves through five statuses.

```
draft → submitted → approved → invoiced
 ↓
 rejected
```

1. You create the expense. It starts as a **draft**.
2. You submit it. It becomes **submitted** and joins the approval queue.
3. A reviewer approves or rejects it.
4. An approved billable expense can be added to an invoice. It then becomes **invoiced**.

Full detail is on [expense statuses](/expenses/expense-statuses).

### Two money figures

Every expense carries two numbers, and they are not the same.

| Figure             | What it means                                           | Who can see it                      |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **Amount**         | What the business actually paid. This is internal cost. | The submitter, plus Owner and Admin |
| **Billable value** | What the client is charged. Amount × (1 + markup %)     | Everyone who can see the expense    |

This split is deliberate. A Project Manager reviewing an expense sees the client-facing value without seeing the internal cost. See [cost rates](/rates/cost-rates) for the same idea applied to people.

## Where expenses live

| Screen                              | What it shows                                        |
| ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Expenses** in the sidebar         | Your own expense log – every expense you submitted   |
| **Approvals → Expenses → Awaiting** | Submitted expenses waiting for a decision            |
| **Approvals → Expenses → History**  | Expenses already approved, rejected or invoiced      |
| **Settings → Expense categories**   | The category list an expense is filed under          |
| **Reports**                         | The Expenses report source, for workspace-wide spend |

<Note>
  The Expenses page shows **only your own expenses**. It is not a workspace-wide list. To see everyone's spend, build a report on the Expenses source – that needs the `expense.approve` capability.
</Note>

## Example

Sarah Lin buys a \$240 stock photo licence for the Bluebird Coffee Website Redesign.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sarah submits it">
    Amount `240`, currency `USD`, category `Software`, client `Bluebird Coffee`, project `Website Redesign`. She turns **Billable to client** on and enters a markup of `15`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The billable value is calculated">
    240 × (1 + 15/100) = 240 × 1.15 = \*\*$276**. Northwind pays $240 and charges Bluebird \$276.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Daniel approves it">
    Daniel Okafor, Finance, sees the \$276 billable value in the approval queue and approves it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="It goes on an invoice">
    When Daniel builds Bluebird's next invoice, the expense appears under **Billable expenses**. Adding it moves the expense to `invoiced`.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The $36 gap between $240 and \$276 is margin on the expense.

## Plan and app requirements

| Requirement           | Detail                                                                                                          |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **App**               | Expenses must be switched on in **Settings → Apps**. It is on by default. It requires the Projects & tasks app. |
| **Plan – submitting** | Free. Anyone can record and submit an expense on any plan.                                                      |
| **Plan – approving**  | Pro. Approve and Reject need the `approvals` feature.                                                           |

This is the standard capture-versus-resolution line. Free lets you record the work; Pro lets you clear it. See [plans and features](/concepts/plans-and-features).

## Permissions

| Action                                                  | Capability               | Roles that hold it                                         |
| ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| Create, edit, submit, withdraw, delete your own expense | `expense.submit`         | Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Finance, Member, Contractor |
| Approve or reject a submitted expense                   | `expense.approve`        | Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Finance                     |
| Add, rename or archive a category                       | `expenseCategory.manage` | Owner, Admin, Finance                                      |
| See the raw amount and markup on someone else's expense | `time.viewCost`          | Owner, Admin                                               |
| Put an approved billable expense on an invoice          | `invoice.manage`         | Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Finance                     |

A Client portal contact holds none of these. Full detail is on [expense permissions](/expenses/expense-permissions).

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I see everyone's expenses on the Expenses page?">
    No. The Expenses page is pinned to you. Reviewers see other people's expenses in **Approvals → Expenses**, and anyone with `expense.approve` can build a workspace-wide Expenses report.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I have to pick a project?">
    No. Client and project are both optional. An expense with no project is still recorded and still needs approval, but it cannot be tied to a project's spend.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does an expense count against a project budget?">
    No. A project budget measures approved labour cost for a money budget, or logged time for an hours budget. Expenses are tracked separately. See [how budgets work](/budgets/how-budgets-work).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I expense in a different currency from my workspace?">
    Yes. The currency dropdown offers USD, EUR, GBP, INR, AUD, CAD, JPY, AED and SGD. When you put the expense on an invoice in another currency, an exchange rate must exist for the pair.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if my workspace has no categories?">
    The category dropdown is empty and you cannot save. An Owner, Admin or Finance user adds one in **Settings → Expense categories**.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

| Problem                                         | Cause and fix                                                                                                                               |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Expenses is missing from the sidebar**        | The Expenses app is switched off. An Owner or Admin turns it back on in **Settings → Apps**.                                                |
| **Approve shows a Pro badge**                   | Your workspace is on Free. Approving is a Pro feature. Submitted expenses queue up safely until you upgrade.                                |
| **You see a billable value but not the amount** | You lack `time.viewCost`. Only Owner and Admin see the internal cost on someone else's expense. You always see the full amount on your own. |
| **The Markup % field is not there**             | Markup only appears once **Billable to client** is on. A non-billable expense cannot carry a markup.                                        |

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Submit an expense" icon="plus" href="/expenses/submit-an-expense">
    Fill the form, attach a receipt and send it for approval.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Approve an expense" icon="check" href="/expenses/approve-an-expense">
    Review the queue, approve, reject or withdraw an approval.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Billable expenses" icon="file-invoice-dollar" href="/expenses/billable-expenses">
    Markup, billable value and getting an expense onto an invoice.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Expense statuses" icon="list-check" href="/expenses/expense-statuses">
    The five statuses and who moves each transition.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Expense categories" icon="tags" href="/expenses/expense-categories">
    Build and curate the list expenses are filed under.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Expense permissions" icon="lock" href="/expenses/expense-permissions">
    Which role can do what with an expense.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>