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Can't Log an Expense?
Can't Log an Expense?

There are a few reasons why you may be unable to add an expense item for a service in Productive. Let's see what they are!

Updated over 2 weeks ago

Are you or any of your team encountering issues while trying to add an expense for a budget or a sales deal?

If you find that your service isn't available and is not showing in the expense input screen, there could be several reasons behind it.

We'll explore each potential issue below.

1) User Not Added to the Budget or Deal

Ensure the user trying to log expenses is included in the Sharing Options of the deal or budget. You can find this in the upper-right corner of the relevant page.

2) No Services Assigned to the Deal or Budget

Expenses are logged against services, either in budgets or sales deals.

If services haven’t been added to a deal or budget, you won’t be able to log expenses. Make sure the deal or budget has all necessary services assigned.


3) Service Tracking Unit Set to "Hour" or "Day"

Services with a tracking unit set to "Hour" or "Day" are unavailable for expense tracking.

  • Change the unit to "Piece" to log expenses.

  • Note: For Fixed billing services, bookings and time tracking are still possible when "Piece" is selected, but it’s best to reserve "Piece" for expense tracking only.

4) Expense Tracking Disabled for a Service

If expense tracking is disabled for the service directly within the budget, you’ll need to enable it.

You can do this by clicking the Edit deal/budget icon and enabling the expense tracking.

4) Deal Stage Restrictions

Some pipeline stages may have time tracking and expense logging disabled. Verify the deal stage settings.

5) Service or User Restrictions

Check if time and expense tracking is restricted to certain service types or specific people within the deal or budget.

These restrictions directly impact who can log expenses against the relevant services.

6) Budget Already Delivered

Once a budget has been delivered, no new expenses can be added. To enable logging expenses, you’ll need to reopen the budget.

Note: This applies to budgets only.

Additional Notes on Expenses and Billing Types

1) Tracking Units: Use "Piece" for expense tracking.

2) Billing Types:

  • Fixed: Log expenses freely, and bill the service in full regardless of expenses logged. Service totals are predefined when setting up the budget.

  • Time and Materials: Bill based on logged expenses; ensure expenses are added as work progresses.

  • Non-billable: Produces cost only and cannot be invoiced to clients.

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