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Compare project cost estimates vs. actuals

by Intuit•35• Updated about 20 hours ago

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

Project cost estimates allow you to forecast income and costs to determine the potential profitability of a specific project. In QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite, you can estimate costs for products and services, convert estimates to invoices, and track actual expenses against your initial plan.

For a better experience, open this article in QuickBooks Online. Launch side-by-side view

Easily add cost estimates and streamline your business with QuickBooks Online Advanced.

Configure expense settings for project estimates

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

Go to Settings , then select Account and settings.
Select Expenses.
In the Bills and expenses section, select Edit ✎.
Turn on Show Items table on expense and purchase forms.
Select Save, then select Done.

Map products and services to expense accounts

Go to Settings , then select Products and services (Take me there).
Find the product or service you want to edit and select Edit in the Action column.
Select the I purchase this product/service from a vendor checkbox.
Select the Expense account dropdown, then select an expense or cost of goods sold account.
Select Save.

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

Create a project cost estimate

Use a project cost estimate to forecast expenses and income for specific products or services. You can share this estimate with your customer, but they will not see your costs, markup, or profit margin.

Go to All apps , then Projects, then Overview (Take me there).
Select the project you want to estimate.
Select the Add to project ▼ dropdown, then select Project estimate.
In the Product/Service column, select a product or service.
In the Qty column, enter the estimated quantity.
For Your rate, enter the cost rate. Leave this blank if you only want to estimate income.
In the Customer rate field, enter the sales rate. Leave this blank if you only want to estimate costs.
- Note: The Markup% column populates automatically based on the difference between the rates. If you edit the Markup%, the Customer rate updates automatically.
Add any additional products or services required for the estimate.
Note: If needed, you can edit the Markup%, and we’ll update the Customer rate based on the new percentage.
Review the total estimated costs, income, and profit margin.
Select Save or Review and send to share the estimate with your customer.
If sending, review the email and select Send estimate.

Note: If you’re attempting to create an estimate and get sent to the project estimate page instead of the estimate page, go to Estimates, select the gear icon ⚙, and toggle off the Project estimate conversion setting to continue.

Update estimate status

New estimates default to a Pending status. The estimate details appear in the Projects dashboard or reports only after the status is updated to Accepted or Declined.

From the Projects dashboard, select Transactions.
Select the more actions dropdown in the Action column.
Select Update Status.
Select Accepted or Declined, enter the details, and select Save.
Refresh the page to update the dashboard if necessary.

Note: If you use Intuit Enterprise Suite, you can also create and send change orders for projects.

Track project 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.

Go to All apps , then Projects, then Projects (Take me there).
Select the project.
Select the Transactions tab and find the estimate.
Select the more actions dropdown in the Action column.
Select Convert to invoice.
Update the invoice details if needed.
Select Save or Review and send.
Review the email and select Send invoice.

Note: If entering other income transactions (like sales receipts), ensure you use the exact products or services selected on the cost estimate to ensure they match in reports.

Assign bank feed expenses to a project

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.

Go to All apps , then Accounting, then Bank transactions (Take me there).
Select the expense you’d like to add.
Select the Customer/Project dropdown, then select the project.
Delete anything currently in the Account dropdown, then select a product/service.
Select Add.
Note: To edit the rate or quantity, select Split and enter the details there.

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

Manually assign expenses to a project

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

Select + Create.
Select Expense, Check, or Bill.
Select the Payee and Payment account.
Close the Category details section, then expand the Item details section.
Enter the product or service(s) you selected on the cost estimate.
Enter the quantity and amount.
In the Customer/Project column, select the dropdown, then select the project.
Select Save and close.

Note: If the Customer/Project column is missing, review your settings in Configure expense settings for project estimates section.

Run project estimates vs. actuals reports

The Projects dashboard displays a chart comparing estimated vs. actual income and costs. For a detailed breakdown:

Go to All apps , then Projects, then Projects (Take me there).
Find and select the project.
Select Project Reports, then select Estimates vs. actuals.

Drill down into report totals

Select specific totals on the report to view related details in QuickBooks Online:

Select Estimated cost or Estimated income to go to the Estimate List.
Select Actual income to go to the Sales by Customer Detail report.
Select Actual cost to go to the Project overview.