Project Expenses Not Accurately Reflecting the Total

Hi @34587064. We can run some troubleshooting to correct the costs.

Let's start by checking the project name if it is selected on each bill and expense created. It's one of the possible reasons why the transactions aren't showing on your project. Here's how:

1. Find and open each bill and expense.
2. On the Bill/Expense page, verify if the project is selected under the Customer/Project column. If nothing is selected, choose the appropriate one.
3. Click Save and close.

However, if the issue persists, the browser may have a data issue. To verify, let's log in to your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account using a private browser. To do so, press this shortcut key on your keyboard:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Option + P

Once logged in, go back and check if the bills and expenses are showing in the Cost section from the Project page. If this works, it means that you need to clear the browser's cache so the system can start fresh. If you get the same result while using a private browser, I recommend switching to other supported browsers to run QuickBooks Online (QBO).

You might also want to learn more about the Project feature in QBO. This article will provide some information on handling project transactions: Projects FAQ.

Please know that I'm just a reply away if you need any further assistance managing projects in QBO. Have a great weekend.

Thanks for your response!

The expenses that I'm exporting into excel are directly from the Project Expenses tab in the project itself. So they wouldn't be there if it wasn't tagged under that project. See the picture below, Costs = $37,155.81 but when I export it to excel....the true costs = $44,080

Glad to have you back, Realneighbor.

Let me share additional information about this.
 

The cost shown on the Project page isn't the profit from the Excel. It is the percentage profit that is shown on the header.

You may also check if you've added the subcategory from the main category of the expense resulting in the amount being inaccurate. I've added a screenshot to see if this is the case.

I'm adding an article you can use that gives you a clearer picture of your profits from every project: Set up and create projects in QuickBooks Online.

Fill me in if you have further questions. I'm always around if you need any help.

When you export those transactions into excel from the QB project, do they equal $296 in expenses? If so, then it's reflecting correctly and that would mean there's an issue with my QB.

My concern is not the profit, it's the COSTS. The total COSTS is incorrect. My QB is not reflecting the expenses correctly on the project page. After exporting all transactions from the project, i removed the two deposits (income) to appropriately reflect my true expenses. The number was not the same number as on my project.

When you export those transactions into excel from the QB project, do they equal $296 in expenses? If so, then it's reflecting correctly and that would mean there's an issue with my QB.

My concern is not the profit, it's the COSTS. The total COSTS is incorrect. My QB is not reflecting the expenses correctly on the project page. After exporting all transactions from the project, i removed the two deposits (income) to appropriately reflect my true expenses. It's off by $6,000

Hello, Realneighbor. 

Have you tried performing the suggested steps on this thread? If not, let's isolate this case by accessing your account using a private browser. It could have something to do with temporary internet files. Browsing applications store these records, but sometimes they can cause issues on certain web pages. 

Here's how to access incognito mode in some of the most commonly used browsers:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Option + P

If the steps above works, I suggest clearing your browser's cache to boost browser-related issues. Some stored data on your browser can impact the data being transmitted, thus causing some unusual responses. 

On the other hand, If the steps above will not work, you can use supported browsers as alternatives.   

If this behavior persists, I'd encourage you to contact our Support Team again so they can investigate it further. It would be best to reach us back in case the steps above didn't work. 

1. Click the (?) Help icon and enter Talk to a human (then type it again when prompted).
2. Enter your concern.
3. Select I still need a human, then proceed with Contact us or Get help from a human.
4. Choose either Chat or Callback. 

Please be reminded that our Support Team is available from 6:00 AM until 6:00 PM on weekdays, and from 6:00 AM till 3:00 PM on Saturdays.

Feel free to leave a reply below if you have additional concerns with QuickBooks. I'm always here to help. Take care always.

I am not sure if this is the issue but as I am researching how to enter an expense that needs to be broken out into multiple projects people are reporting that the main Costs summary is wrong yet the Profit % is correct. The cost amount shows the entire invoice amount, not the amount allocated to the project. That would make each project's Costs show higher. 

Is it possible you allocated an expense across projects? 

This is the support item total I am seeing that on: 

"How can I split an existing bill to multiple projects? When I try, the entire bill shows as cost against each project i.e. 10k bill w/2k cost on 5 projects."

Not sure if your question was answered, but if you are pulling the Profitability report under the Projects tab and those numbers do not match all expense transactions for your project, customize the Profitability report to "accrual" instead of "cash" basis.  That's the only thing that has worked for me.  Still, I go to the Reports tab, run the "client transactions report" just to make sure everything is pulling over.

Today I have solved a problem that sounds very similar to this and the solution is not provided in this thread.

My problem:

- Overview - Project income reported as $3,000; Costs reported as $0.

- In transactions - Sales receipts and deposits total to $3,000; Bills total $1,600.  !!!!!!

What is happening:

- The items purchased in the bills were assets, not expenses.  Therefore, the Overview doesn't consider them to be costs!

Analysis:

- It is a little annoying that project tracking considers itself a profit and loss activity.  I am happy with this behaviour when it comes to classes, but not with projects.  However, for us at least, a project is something that has a budget and you want to be able to check where you are up to in that budget.  Costs to the budget should not be constrained to expenses.  It you buy equipment that will last past the end of the project you want it in the balance sheet but you don't want it to look like you haven't spent the money!!

Solution:

- This is tedious and reflects poorly.  For each purchase of an asset related to a project, you need three lines in the Bill:

Asset, can have project name: $x

Expense, with project name: $x

Same Expense, no project name: -$x

The first line is the transaction you actually set out to do.  It doesn't matter whether of not the project is mentioned.  Leaving it out means that it will only appear once in the transaction list, but the asset wont be associated with the project in the list of asset.

The second line is only there to have the desired affect on the Project calculations

The third is there to reverse the P&L impact of the second line.  The project is left off so that it doesn't reverse the impact of the second line in the Project Overview.

Garry

This is a big fault that the QB Projects report has. Your total is different because if a bill is split amongst two projects, QB is automatically just calculating the amount specified for that project, and adjusting it in the total costs which is great. HOWEVER, when you pull the transactions, it shows the BILL total; not just the PROJECT total. If you split a lot of bills you'll have to go back through manually and find which bills were split and then manually adjust your project report total (every time!). You may want to do two+ different invoice entries for bills that are split between multiple projects. I wish QB would fix this! 

I hear you RealNeighbor, TOTALLY!

I am having the same problem on a new project after closing out many perfectly.  I too pulled the transactions by hitting export to Excel directly from the project.  I total in Excel and the amount is different and by an odd number $3,167.27.  No one that has responded gets it, because the numbers we are pulling are directly from the project.  If you have figured this out, please post it... I am going NUTS!!!

You're a valuable customer to us and your frustration is completely valid. Let's make sure we'll be able to fix your issue, Kathy.

The most common reason why Excel is showing a different amount it's because the formula isn't calculating properly or you've inadvertently activated the Show Formulas mode in a worksheet. You'll have to make sure to turn off the Show Formula mode by doing one of the following:

• Pressing the Ctrl + ` shortcut, or
• Clicking the Show Formulas button on the Formulas tab > Formula Auditing group.

You can also check if you've added a subcategory from the main category of the expense which is the cause of the amount not showing correctly as what @GlinetteC provided.

However, if you've already determined that the subcategory is correct and yet you're still getting an incorrect amount, I recommend reaching out to our support team so they can investigate further. They have the tools to pull up your account in a secure environment. 

Furthermore, I've included articles that'll help you learn more about personalizing and memorizing your reports in QuickBooks Online:

• Customize Report in QuickBooks Online
• Memorize Report in QuickBooks Online

Feel free to let me know if you need additional assistance with Projects. Remember, we're here to ensure we've got you covered.

This is also happening with expense that are split among different projects.  I have an expense entered for 957.11 total and the split is 202.01 to one project and 755.10 to another.  The total of 957.11 is showing under the project transactions on each project. In the project report project profitability it shows correctly as the split allocation for each project.  Is the work around be to enter them separately and not have a split on one transaction?  Do you think this will be resolved?

It's good to see you here, @svihl. 

This feature is working as designed already. It will show the total amount of expense under the Transactions tab even if you split it into two different projects. 

I can see how this functionality would be beneficial to your business. I encourage sending Feedback directly to our Product Development team. It helps us improve the features of the program. I'll show you how:

1. Go to the Gear menu and then select Feedback.
2. Type in your feature request in the description box.
3. Once done, click on Next.

You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

In the meantime, if you don't want to show the entire amount of the expense because you don't want to split it, enter them separately, and enter per project.

Moreover, you can visit this article to guide you in supervising your business with these step-by-step videos: Learn about QuickBooks Online with how-to videos. Also, it contains steps on managing your company's finances.

Let us know if you have additional queries while working with QBO. We'll be glad to have you back here. Take care!