This article is for: employees, finance teams and approvers.
Finance needs to know which project, budget and cost centre each expense belongs to, without keeping a spreadsheet on the side. The Cost allocation tab on the expense page shows where it's charged, including how it's split by percentage across cost centres, so employees, approvers and finance all see the same picture.
See how an expense is charged
Overview
In the full-page expense view, an expense has tabs, including Details, Cost allocation, Comments and Linked documents. The Cost allocation tab shows the budget, project, subproject and cost centres the expense is charged to. When an expense is split across several cost centres, each one shows its share next to its name, for example Marketing (60%) and Sales (40%) on a £250 client dinner.
How to use
- Open the expense from My spending > My expenses (yours) or Spending > Employee expenses (everyone's).
- Go to the Cost allocation tab.
- Check the budget, project, subproject and cost centres. Each cost centre shows its percentage, for example Marketing (60%).
A field your company uses but nobody has filled in shows a dash (-). If your company doesn't use budgets, projects or cost centres at all, the tab says "This expense is not charged to a budget, project or cost center."
Charge your own draft to a project
How to use
- In your draft, click Edit, choose the project and, if your company uses them, the subproject, then click Save.
- Depending on your company's approval flow, the expense can go to the project's manager for approval.
From the project: in Projects, open the project's Spending tab and click Add employee expense.
Tips and Best Practices
- Check the Cost allocation tab before you send: it's the quickest way to see where finance will see the expense.
- Approvers: open Cost allocation when an expense mentions a client or a project, to check it's charged to the right one.
- Related: How do I create an expense? · How do I see what my company spends? · How do I export expenses? · How do I leave a comment on an expense?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
I don't see the tabs when I open an expense.
The tabs belong to the full-page expense view. If your expenses open in a side panel or a window instead, you may not see all of them. Your admin or Account Manager can tell you which view your company uses.
I can't add an expense to a project.
When a project is closed, employees can't add expenses to it. Ask the project's manager or your admin.
FAQ
1. Where do cost-centre percentages show up in reports?
In Spending > Employee expenses > Report, the Expenses by cost center widget shows spend per cost centre. For people in several cost centres, the expense is split by the person's percentage in each. See How do I see what my company spends?.
2. Can I get the cost-centre split through the API?
Yes. An expense can be split across several cost centres, and the cost-centre distributions read (beta) returns the percentage of each. See How do I connect expenses to my own systems with the Factorial API?.
3. Can I export a project's expenses?
Yes. Projects has a Project's expenses export. For all expenses, the advanced export has a Cost centres column. See How do I export expenses?.
4. What does the Cost allocation tab show when nothing is filled in?
A dash (-) for each field your company uses. If your company doesn't use budgets, projects or cost centres at all, the tab says "This expense is not charged to a budget, project or cost center."