The two numbers behind everything
Gross profit = billable value − actual cost.
Both are computed from the rate captured on each time entry when it was recorded, not from today’s rates. See /rates/rate-snapshots.
What Overview shows
Open a project and stay on the Overview tab. The Financials panel shows:Health
The project list uses the same idea in its Budget column: under 90% is muted, 90% and above is a warning tint, and 100% or more turns red and changes the wording to
118% over budget rather than 118% of budget.
The true percentage always prints. A project at 210% says 210% – nothing is capped or rounded away.
Approved time only
Spend and margin count approved time. Time that has been submitted but not yet approved is shown separately, as a caption:
12.5h awaiting approval · 4 entries
Hovering it explains: “Submitted time not yet approved – excluded from spent and margin until a manager approves it.”
This is what stops a project looking healthy right up to the moment a week of approvals lands.
The cost firewall
Cost, forecast cost, forecast margin and gross profit are only shown to someone who may see cost –time.viewCost or rate.viewCost.
Revenue-side figures – billable value, forecast revenue – are not cost, so everyone with project access can read them.
Example
Website Redesign for Bluebird Coffee, a$40,000 fixed fee.
Spend is at 62% while the work is only 48% done. If that pace holds, the forecast at completion exceeds the budget, so the chip warns before the money runs out.
Zooming in on one entry: Sarah tracks 3 hours on “Homepage wireframes”. Her billing rate is
$100/hour, so the entry is worth **45/hour`, so it costs Northwind 165 – a 55% margin.
Improving margin
Margin-floor alerts
The budget card has Alert if margin falls below, a percentage from 0 to 100. When the forecast margin drops under it, an alert appears on the project’s Alerts list and, if configured, by email. Leave it blank to skip margin alerts entirely.Permissions
Cost visibility is a capability question, never a plan question.
App and plan gating
There is one honest half-gate: on Free you cannot set a cost rate. Cost, revenue and margin already recorded stay readable, and billing rates stay free to set. See /concepts/plans-and-features.
Common questions
Why do I see revenue but no margin?
Why do I see revenue but no margin?
You can see billing but not cost. Margin needs cost. Ask an admin for
rate.viewCost or time.viewCost.Why is the Effective hourly rate a dash?
Why is the Effective hourly rate a dash?
No tracked hours have rolled up yet. It fills in once approved time exists.
Why is spend lower than I expected?
Why is spend lower than I expected?
Only approved time counts. Check the “awaiting approval” caption, then look at /approvals/overview.
Does a non-billable project have profitability?
Does a non-billable project have profitability?
It has cost but effectively no billable value, so the margin is negative by definition. That is correct – internal work costs money and earns none.
Can I see profitability across all projects at once?
Can I see profitability across all projects at once?
Yes, with a report on the Projects source. See /projects/project-reporting.
Do expenses count toward cost?
Do expenses count toward cost?
Expenses have their own workflow and their own reporting source. See /expenses/overview.
Troubleshooting
Related guides
Profitability and margin
The canonical explanation.
Calculate project profitability
A worked, step-by-step example.
Cost rates
Where cost comes from.
Project overview page
Every element on the dashboard.
Budget alerts
Margin floors and thresholds.
Project reporting
Profitability across every project.