Compare project cost estimates vs. actuals in QuickBooks Online

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.

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• 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 , then 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 , then select Products & services (Take me there).
2. In the ACTION column, select Edit for a product/service.
3. Select the I purchase this product/service from a vendor checkbox.
4. Select the Expense account dropdown, then select an expense or cost of goods sold 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. Go to Projects (Take me there).
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. 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, select Transactions. In the ACTION column, select the more actions dropdown, then select Update Status. Select Accepted or Declined, then fill out the details. 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. Go to Projects (Take me there).
2. Find and select the project.
3. Select Transactions, then find the estimate.
4. In the Action column, select the more actions dropdown, then select Convert to invoice.
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 reports.

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. Go to Transactions, then select Bank transactions.
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 and 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. Go to + New and select Expense, Check, or Bill.
2. Select the Payee and Payment account you’re paying from.
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. In 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. Go to Projects (Take me there).
2. Find and select the project.
3. Select Project Reports, then select Estimates vs. actuals.

You’ll see your estimated vs. actual costs and income, broken down by product or service. We’ll show the difference between the two, measured by monetary value and percentage. We’ll group  transactions without a product or service, like payroll transactions, under Not Specified.

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