Compare project cost estimates vs. actuals

Learn how to forecast your project income and costs in QuickBooks Online Advanced.

Compare your income and expenses with what you originally estimated for a project. Add project estimates and break them down by each product or service you plan to use for the project. Here’s how:

• Step 1: Review your settings
• Step 2: Create your project cost estimate
• Step 3: Track income and expenses
• Step 4: Compare estimates vs. actuals

Step 1: Review your settings

Before you create project cost estimates, make sure you can add products and services to your expense forms.

1. Go to Settings and select Account and settings.
2. Select Expenses.
3. Find Bills and expenses, then select Edit.
4. Turn on Show Items table on expense and purchase forms.
5. Select Save, then select Done.

Next, map each of your products and services to an expense account.

1. Go to Settings and select Products and services (Take me there).
2. From the Action column, select Edit for a product/service.
3. Select the I purchase this service from a supplier checkbox.
4. Select the Expense account dropdown, then select an Expense or Cost of Sales account.
5. Select Save.

Repeat these steps for each product or service you want to estimate costs for.

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Step 2: Create your project cost estimate

With a project cost estimate, forecast your expenses and income for each product or service. You can also share the estimate with your customer.

Note: Your customer won’t see any information about your costs, markup, or profit margin—only what they can expect to pay you.

1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
2. Find and select the project you want to estimate.
3. Select the Add to project ▼ dropdown, then select Project estimate.
4. In the Product/service column, select a product or service.
5. In the Qty column, enter the estimated quantity.
6. For Your rate, enter the cost rate. If you only want to estimate income, leave this section blank.
7. For Customer rate, enter the sales rate. If you only want to estimate costs, leave this section blank.
8. We populate the Markup% column automatically, based on the difference between Your rate and Customer rate.
   Note: If needed, you can edit the Markup%, and we’ll update the Customer rate based on the new percentage.
9. Add any additional products or services you need to estimate.

Once you’ve entered all your estimate details, you’ll see your total estimated costs and income, along with an estimated profit margin.

When you’re all set, select Save or Review and send to share the estimate with your customer. Review and complete the email, then select Send estimate.

Note: The default status of a new estimate is Pending. The estimate details won’t show up in the Projects dashboard or reports until the estimate status is either Accepted or Declined.

To edit the status from the Projects dashboard:

1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
2. Find and select the project.
3. Select Transactions.
4. From the Action column, select the dropdown, then select Update Status.
5. Select Accepted or Declined, then fill out the details.
6. Select Ok.
   Note: You may need to refresh your page to update the dashboard.

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Step 3: Track income and expenses

Now that you’ve added a project cost estimate, you can start tracking your sales and expenses for the project.

Create an invoice from the project cost estimate

After the customer accepts your estimate, you can convert that estimate directly into an invoice. That way, you don’t have to enter the same info twice.

1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
2. Find and select the project.
3. Select Transactions, then find the estimate.
4. From the Action column, select the dropdown, then select Convert to invoice.
   Note: This may vary based on the status of your estimate.
5. Make any updates to the invoice, if needed.
6. When you’re all set, select Save or Review and send to share the invoice with your customer. Review and complete the email, then select Send invoice.

If you enter other income transactions for the project, like a sales receipt, make sure to enter the same product/service(s) you selected on the cost estimate. Otherwise, they won’t match in your Estimates vs. actuals report.

Enter expenses from bank feeds

If you’ve connected your bank to QuickBooks, it’ll be easier to assign bank transactions to projects and add them to your Estimates vs. actuals report.

1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
2. Select the expense you’d like to add.
3. Select the Customer/project dropdown, then select the project.
4. Delete anything currently in the Account dropdown, then select a Product/Service.
5. Select Add.
   Note: If you’d like to edit the rate or quantity, select Split instead, then enter your products and services from there.

Now your bank transaction will appear on your Estimates vs. actuals report.

Enter expenses manually

The bank feed is the fastest way to enter expenses, but you can also do it manually. Here’s how:

1. Select + New or + Create.
2. Select Expense, Cheque, or Bill.
   • In case of an Expense: Select the Payee and Payment account you’re paying from.
   • In case of a Cheque: Select the Payee and Bank Account you’re paying from.
   • In case of a Bill: Select the Supplier.
3. Close the Category details section, then expand the Item details section.
4. Enter the same product/service(s) you selected on the cost estimate.
5. Enter the quantity and amount you’re paying.
6. From the Customer/Project column, select the dropdown, then select the project.
7. Select Save and close.

Note: If you can’t find the product or service you need, or don’t have the Customer/Project column, double-check your settings from Step 1.

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Step 4: Compare estimates vs. actuals

Going forward, when you view your project, you’ll see a chart comparing your estimated vs. actual income and costs. Here’s how to find a more detailed breakdown:

1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
2. Find and select the project.
3. Select Project Reports, then select Estimates vs. actuals.

When drilling into the totals on this report, you can go to different areas in QuickBooks Online.

• Select Estimated costs or Estimated income to go to the details list.
• Select Actual income to go to the Sales by Customer Detail Report.
• Select Actual costs to go back to the Project Reports page.

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