I have a question for active Cashboard users. Let’s just put this out there first, I love this program and use it all the time

I would like some thoughts on how any of you handle tracking expenses incurred per project and if any of you are doing this in Cashboard? I guess my question is along the same lines as billable vs. non-billable time….but actual rate vs. actual cost of the project. I hope this makes sense….Just wondering what you creative folks are doing and how I can implement through Cashboard to make me more efficient. Thanks. Blessings! T :)

i dont have a solution, but I was wondering the same thing the other day. I think my issue is the same as yours. I quote at a flat fee for a website design, by estimating the time spent on each component. How can I track the time I am spending in reality, against the fee I will actually charge in the end. So I can see that I need to bump my estimates up a bit, because I am generally underquoting or whatever.

Is that similar to you taf?

This is generally why I only billed hourly, and never via a flat fee when I freelanced in the past.

Interesting discussion!

Yes AdamJ, similar…

I line item according to past knowledge of how long something takes me and my hourly rate. I always include revision clauses in case clients get out of hand with changes.

My question, though, is specific to tracking expenses, i.e. extended licenses for royalty free photos, or frames, prints, etc that are incurred during the process of a project. This is something I really don’t want the client to see…but need to have associated to the project. I have no way of seeing a behind the scenes expense tabulation and whether the fees I am charging are covering my costs. I try my best to go back and review the project so I can adjust going forward, but that can be overly time-consuming since I don’t have a “place” to go per project to see “all”. Like the lovely graphing that Seth has provided us in the front end, I feel the need to see a cost charged vs actual cost.

Blessings! T :)

I’m thinking along the lines of tracking expenses that I will bill directly to the client, and which will eventually end up as line items on the invoice. Now, I have to record those expenses elsewhere and remember to add them to the invoice at the end of the billing period.

How about this… on the Project page, could there be a new tab called Expenses, which includes the Add New Line Item box from the Invoice. This is where I’d enter expenses incurred for a project.

Could this be adapted to also allow for tracking expenses not directly billed to the client? Perhaps a checkbox that would indicate whether or not the item was billable. Tracking billable vs. non-billable expenses would be more complicated, or course.