Project expenses, advances and settlements
Site staff and designers claim what they spent on a project with the receipt. Or they ask for an advance before buying hardware locally and settle it after. An Interiors Manager approves, payments are recorded by method with proof, and a supplier's expense can become a draft vendor bill.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- A supervisor pays cash for screws and transport, and the slip is lost by month end.
- Advances to site staff are never settled, and nobody knows who holds how much.
- Small site spends never reach the project's cost.
- Money is paid out with no record of how or with what proof.
How it works
- Open Interiors > Projects > Finance > Expenses > My Expenses and press New: what for, the project, Expense or Advance. Add the lines (what, date, quantity, price, bill number) with the receipt attached.
- Send it. It goes through your Project Expense approval chain, an Interiors Manager to start with, who approves or rejects with a reason.
- The person who asked is told of the decision.
- Pay it from the expense: Paid Out with the method (Cash, Bank Transfer, Cheque, Card, UPI), the reference and the proof of payment. Payments go through the Expense Payment approval.
- After spending an advance, make a Settlement of an Advance with what it went on. Only the balance is paid, or returned as Received Back.
- For a supplier's bill, press Make Vendor Bill on the approved expense to get a draft vendor bill in Accounting.
Everything it does
Three kinds
- Expense: money already spent
- Advance: money asked for before spending; not a cost until settled
- Settlement of an Advance: needs an approved, unsettled advance of the same person and project; an advance is settled once
The expense
- What For, kind, project, date, the person who asked, Paid To (a supplier, or empty)
- Lines: what, date, quantity, price, amount, Tax / Bill No. for the supplier's bill number and GST
- Statuses: Draft, Waiting Approval, Approved, Rejected, Withdrawn
- An approved expense is corrected with a new one with a negative line
Payments
- Paid Out, or Received Back when an advance is returned
- Methods ready: Cash, Bank Transfer, Cheque, Card (paid out only), UPI; a reference needed except for Cash
- Proof of Payment: the bank slip, cheque scan or UPI screenshot
- Pay in parts and by several methods; status Not Paid, Partly Paid, Paid or Overpaid
- Approved payments cannot be changed or deleted
With budgets (Scale)
- Each line takes a budget category, Travel and Expenses to start with
- Sending checks what is left on the line and warns or blocks as your budget control says
- Approved expenses and settlements are actual cost on the project budget; advances are not
Who uses it
Site supervisor or designerClaims expenses with receipts, asks for advances and settles them.
Project managerApproves or rejects expenses of the projects, with a reason.
AccountsRecords payments with proof and posts supplier bills.
Where you use it
- Web: Interiors > Projects > Finance > Expenses > My Expenses (everyone), Expenses, Advances, Expense Payments (managers); the Expenses button and page on the project
- Configuration: Interiors > Projects > Configuration > Money > Payment Methods
- Not in the Interiors apps yet: expenses are claimed on the web, which works in a phone's browser
- Not built: reading receipts by themselves
What you control
Settings
- Payment methods: name, Needs a Reference (on, except Cash), paid out, received or both
- The Project Expense and Expense Payment approval chains
- With budgets: the category per line and the budget control (Warn to start with)
Approvals
- Project Expense: an Interiors Manager approves to start with; add levels such as accounts above an amount
- Expense Payment: an Interiors Manager approves to start with
Notifications
- Project Expense Decided: to the person who asked, when approved or rejected (with why), in the app and by email
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers, with a to-do
Questions
Can we charge an expense on to the client?
Not from the expense. Interiors bills the client through payment milestones; raise a change order for a cost the client should pay. The Bill the Client switch is used by SmartMy Projects billing only.Can someone settle the same advance twice?
No. Once a settlement is approved, the advance is marked Settled and a second settlement is refused.Will a vendor bill count the cost twice?
No. The bill is marked as coming from the expense, so the budget counts the expense only.Which plan has it?
Growth and Scale. In Scale each expense is also checked against the project budget.Related features
PROJECTSBudgets by OPEX and CAPEXEach interior project gets a budget by cost category, approved before it counts. Purchase orders, subcontractor bills and expenses fill it by themselves, and payment milestone and design fee invoices count as revenue. The project manager is told at 80 % and again over 100 %.PROJECTSProfitability per projectOne row per interior project: the value sold, revenue invoiced, and cost so far split into OPEX and CAPEX. Also what is committed, the margin and how much of the budget is used. Filters show the jobs losing money or over budget.ACROSS SMARTMY INTERIORSApproval chainsFee bills, measurements, stage overrides, subcontract work, expenses, budgets and client choices go to the right people in order, set up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.ACCOUNTINGFull accounting with GST returnsKeep the books in the same system as your interiors jobs. Design fee bills, payment milestones and subcontractor bills arrive as drafts for your accountant, with full reports from ledgers to cash flow. For Indian entities, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B are worked out from the posted invoices and bills.MEASURE AND MAKEPurchasingOrder the furniture, lights and fittings the client approved from their vendors in one step: one purchase order per vendor and project. The vendor confirms and gives ship dates and tracking on their own page, late deliveries are flagged, and nothing is received without an inspection photo.
See your next quote on it.
Tell us what you design and build, how many enquiries and jobs you have in a month and how you quote today. We will set up your packages and rates with you and send your first instant quote.