In some cases, you need to bill a client for an expense that has no internal cost — for example, when a vendor bills the client directly, or when the cost is handled outside of Productive.
You can log this by submitting an expense with a $0 cost and using the markup field to set the billable amount.
How to Submit It
Open the expense input screen and fill in the standard fields.
Select a billable service in the Service field.
Do not enter a cost: leave the line item at 0.00.
In the totals panel, click Edit next to the markup field.
Switch from % to Amount and enter the amount you want to bill the client.
Click Submit.
Example: You book a $200 vendor service for a client. Your cost is $0, but you bill the client $200. Set the markup to $200 (Amount) — Total billable will show $200.
📌 The markup amount is always in the budget currency.
Importing via CSV
If you're importing expenses via CSV, the template works differently from the expense form, but the result is the same.
Enter the Amount and Billable Amount columns directly in the CSV. Productive calculates the markup automatically from those two values.
📌 CSV import supports one line item per expense.
How It Affects the Budget and Invoicing
Once submitted and approved, a zero-cost billable expense:
Adds nothing to internal costs.
Adds the markup amount to revenue and reduces the remaining budget accordingly.
Can be included in a client invoice like any other billable expense.
👉 Learn more in How to Submit an Expense
