Billable Expense

A billable expense is an expense you incur while doing work for your client that you intend to invoice to the client.

Turn on Billable Expenses

To use billable expenses you’ll first have to turn it on in the Account and Settings.

To do this click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the home screen. Select Account and settings in the YOUR COMPANY column.

On the left side menu select Expenses. Then click the pencil icon to edit the Bills and expenses section. 

Toggle on “Make expenses and items billable.” Check off “Markup with a default rate of” if you’d like to be able to markup the billable expenses you charge to clients. You can enter a default rate amount or leave it at 0.00. You’ll have the option to edit it for each billable line item on an invoice.

When you’re ready click the Done button in the lower right corner.

Create a Billable Expense

To create a billable expense click the +New button in the upper left corner. Then click Expense in the VENDORS column.

Create the expense as you normally would. As you add categories or items you’ll see a BILLABLE column with a checkbox.

If you hover over the question mark icon for that column it says “Select if a customer should for this.”

When you check off Billable the Markup column will automatically fill with your default Markup, which you can edit.

Or, you can enter an amount in the Markup column and it will automatically check off Billable.

When you make an expense billable a CUSTOMER column will appear. You must select the customer you’ll bill this to. If you don’t select a customer you will get an error message and you won’t be able to save your expense.

Here is an example of a billable expense with a markup of 10%:

Invoice Billable Expenses

When you create an invoice for a customer you’ve created a billable expense for, you will see that expense appear on the right in the Add to Invoice section.

When you click Add it will add the billable expense to the invoice. If your expense has a markup you will see the expense and the markup as two separate lines:

You can see how this will look to your client by clicking on Print or Preview in the gray bar at the bottom of the screen. Then selecting Print or Preview from the menu.

The client will not see the markup on their invoice. They’ll only see the billable expense at the marked-up price:

Delayed Charge

A delayed charge is like a note for something you’ll charge a customer in the future. It helps you keep track of what money you expect to make later on, which is useful for keeping tabs on your sales. It’s a “non-posting” transaction, meaning it won’t change your account balances. It’s more like a reminder for your records.

Create a Delayed Charge

To create a delayed charge click the +New button in the upper left corner. Then select Delayed charge in the CUSTOMERS column.

Delayed charges are like a super simplified invoice. You select the customer, the date, and add product/services (you cannot add items).

When you’re done click the Save and close button in the bottom right.

Invoice a Delayed Charge

When you create an invoice for a customer with delayed charges you’ll see them on the right in the Add to invoice section. (Just like the billable expenses).

Clicking the Add link will add the delayed charge to your invoice.

If you’re currently using a file folder or a sticky note to help you remember to bill clients. Using billable expenses or delayed charges might be exactly the thing you need to improve your efficiency and ensure you’re not missing anything.

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Below is a video if you prefer to watch a walkthrough.

If you have questions about billable expenses or delayed charges in QuickBooks Online click the green button below to schedule a free consultation.