Project expenses features are available for Pro and Enterprise customers.
Project expenses allow you to track non-labor costs—such as travel, equipment rentals, software licenses, or materials—directly within a project in Float.
By tracking expenses alongside scheduled time, you get:
A complete view of total project costs (labor + non-labor)
Accurate billable totals
Clear profit margin calculations
Better budget and utilization insights in reports
This ensures your financial reporting reflects the true cost of delivering a project—not just your team’s time.
Adding project expenses
To add a project expense:
Open the project settings.
Navigate to the Expenses section.
Click +Add and type the expense details
For each expense item, you can enter:
Expense name – A short, descriptive label (e.g., “Camera rental,” “Travel to client site”).
Cost – The total cost before markup.
Quantity – The number of units being charged.
Markup – available for Time & materials budgets only: an optional percentage added when passing the cost through to the client.
Date – The date the expense occurred or is expected to occur.
expected.
📝Note: If you add an expense with a date outside the project’s start or end date, Float will automatically extend the project duration to include that expense date.
At the bottom of the list, you’ll also see:
Total expense costs – The sum of all expenses before any markup is applied.
Total billable – The total amount that will be passed through to the client, including any markups.
Markup amount – The difference between the base expense costs and the billable total (what you’re adding on top for management and procurement).
Billable and non-billable expenses
Each expense can be marked as billable or non-billable.
Billable expenses:
Passed through to the client.
Included in Total billable.
May include markup (depending on budget type).
Non-billable expenses:
Count toward Total expense costs.
Excluded from Total billable.
Absorbed internally by your team.
Use non-billable expenses for:
Client goodwill costs
Internal investments
Overruns you choose not to pass on
Tracking non-billable expenses ensures your margin reflects true profitability.
Expense totals
At the bottom of the Expenses list, you’ll see the summary:
Total expense costs – The sum of all expenses before markup.
Total billable – The total amount that will be passed through to the client, (including markup, if applicable).
Markup amount – The difference between base expense costs and the billable total (what you’re adding on top for management and procurement).
Project expenses for each budget type
Project expense behavior changes depending on the budget type.
No Budget, Fixed fee, or Fixed hours
For projects with No Budget, Fixed Fee, or Fixed Hours budget:
Expenses can be set as billable or non-billable
Markup can’t be applied.
Expenses are tracked only at their actual cost.
At the bottom of the expenses list, you’ll only see the total expense costs split into:
- Billable – Included in budget tracking but not marked up.
- Non-billable – Costs that aren’t passed through to the client. These could be investments or extras that you decide to cover internally.
Time & materials
For projects using the Time & materials budget type:
Expenses can be set as billable or non-billable.
Markup can be applied.
The expense summary includes:
Total expense costs – The sum of all expenses before markup. This is split into:
Billable – Costs that will be passed on to the client.
Non-billable – Costs your team absorbs internally.
Total billable – The amount that will be invoiced to the client. This includes:
The billable expense costs
Plus any markup amount applied.
This breakdown helps you see both the real cost of delivering the project and the final billable amount your client will be charged.
Permissions and access control
Access to project expenses depends on the access rights and project permissions.
Account Owners & Admins: Can view and edit all project expenses.
Managers: Can view and/or edit project expenses only if they are granted the View rates & budgets permission and assigned to the project.
Members: No access to project expenses.
Reports
In the Projects Report, you’ll see a dedicated Billable expenses column. This shows the total expenses marked as billable for each project, making it easier to understand how expenses contribute to the overall project financials at a glance.
These amounts are added alongside the scheduled cost and other project metrics, providing a more comprehensive view of the project’s billable value.
You can also access the Expenses table to drill down into the details. This separates Billable and Non-billable expenses, showing:
Total cost (the actual expense amount)
Markup (if applied)
Total billable (cost + markup, which is what gets passed through to the client)
When viewing a Single Project Report, you’ll also have access to the Expenses tab.
This gives you a detailed breakdown of all project expenses and shows how they directly impact your overall budget, billable amount, and margin in the Profitability and Budget utilization overviews.
You can export the expenses data in the CSV format using the Export expenses data option.
Additional notes
If your projects follow a similar structure and have recurring expenses, you can add those expenses to project templates.