Expenses, receipts and mileage you can bill back
Sumhour logs project expenses with their receipts, prices mileage per unit (120 km at 0.45 is 54.00), tracks who needs paying back, and adds billable expenses to the client’s next invoice as their own lines.
In every plan. 30 days free, no card.
| Expense | Category | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock photos6 Nov · Maya Lind · Launch site | Software | 39.00 | Approved |
| Print proofs4 Nov · Maya Lind · Brand site rebuild | Materials | 128.60 | Awaiting approval |
| Client site visit3 Nov · Sam Ortiz · Launch site | Mileage120 km | 54.00 | Reimburse |
| Train to the client workshop21 Oct · Rina Akter · Field app | Travel | 86.40 | On an invoice |
Two expenses to pay back: 140.40
Sam drove 120 km for Cedar Works, priced per kilometre. Rina bought a train ticket for Fieldwork, which also went on the client’s invoice as its own line.
Billing the client and paying the person back are tracked separately, so a billed expense can still be waiting for reimbursement.
| Mileage, Sam Ortiz120 km × 0.45, 3 Nov | 54.00 |
|---|---|
| Train ticket, Rina Akter21 Oct, on INV-1043 | 86.40 |
| Open reimbursements | 140.40 |
Demo workspace: Birch & Row Studio, USD
Expenses in Sumhour, step by step
- 01
Log it
Click “New expense”, pick the project, date and category, enter the amount and attach the receipt.
- 02
Approve it
If you turn approval on, owners, admins and managers approve or reject each expense. Rejecting needs a reason.
- 03
Pay people back
“To reimburse” lists what each person paid out of pocket. “Mark reimbursed” settles their open expenses in one go.
- 04
Bill the client
Draft an invoice with “Include billable expenses” ticked and each billable expense becomes its own line.
Every expense keeps its receipt
Everyone in the workspace can log an expense against a project they work on. Attach the receipt as a PNG, JPEG, WebP or PDF up to 10 MB, and a paperclip icon on the row opens it later.
Pick the receipt first and press "Let Pip read it": Pip fills in the date, the amount and a note from it, for you to check before you save. A receipt in another currency gets a warning to convert the amount.
Receipts stay private to the workspace. Only a signed-in member can open one; a copied link shows "not found" to anyone else.
- Five categories to start: Travel, Meals, Software, Materials and Other
- Untick "Billable to the client" for costs you absorb
Billable to the client
Reimburse me
Price mileage per unit
Give a category a unit and a price per unit and it turns into a per-unit category. Add Mileage with km at 0.45, and the expense drawer shows a "Km" field with the price beside it. Enter the distance, leave the amount blank, and Sumhour works out units times price.
The same works for any other cost you price by the unit. If someone types an amount, their amount wins.
Set up a per-unit categoryCategories
| Name | Unit | Price per unit |
|---|---|---|
| Travel | ||
| Software | ||
| Mileage | km | 0.45 |
Sam Ortiz · Launch site · 3 Nov
Approve expenses, then pay people back
Approval is off until an admin turns it on. Then each new expense waits as "Awaiting approval", and owners, admins and managers get a "To approve" tab with "Approve" and "Reject". A rejection needs a reason, and the person who logged it hears either way. Only approved expenses reach invoices and the reimbursement list.
Tick "Reimburse me" on money paid out of pocket. "To reimburse" groups the open ones by person with a total, and "Mark reimbursed" clears a person’s group once you have paid them.
How expense approval worksTo approve · 1
To reimburse
| Person | Amount | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Rina Akter1 expense | 86.40 | Mark reimbursed |
| Sam Ortiz1 expense | 54.00 | Mark reimbursed |
Billable expenses land on the next invoice
With "Include billable expenses" ticked, which is the default, a new invoice picks up every billable expense on the chosen projects, dated in its range, not on another invoice and not rejected. Each is a line of its own, described by project, category, notes and date. Expense lines start as not taxable, since you are passing a cost on, and you can change that on the line.
- An expense on an invoice shows a lock and "On an invoice"
- Filter by dates, project and person, then download the list as a CSV
| Description | Qty | Price | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field app · Design | 10:00 | 125.00 | 1,250.00 |
| Field app · Development | 14:00 | 125.00 | 1,750.00 |
| Field app · TravelTrain to the client workshop, 21 Oct | 1 | 86.40 | 86.40 |
| Total (USD) | 3,086.40 |
Expenses: limits to know about
- “Mark reimbursed” covers all of a person’s open expenses at once. You cannot pick single items.
- Each expense becomes its own invoice line at quantity 1. Sumhour does not group expenses into one line.
- Once an expense is on an invoice, it cannot be edited or deleted. To free it, remove the line, delete the draft or void the invoice.
Missing something you need? Write to [email protected]. The person who builds Sumhour reads every message.
Expenses: common questions
How do I bill expenses back to a client?
Leave “Billable to the client” ticked when you log the expense. When you draft an invoice with “Include billable expenses” ticked, Sumhour adds every billable expense on the projects you picked, dated inside the invoice’s range and not already on an invoice. Each one becomes a line described by project, category, notes and date.
Billing expenses in the guideHow do I track mileage and bill it to a client?
Add a category with a unit and a price per unit, such as Mileage with km at 0.45. When someone picks it, they enter the distance and leave the amount blank: 120 km becomes 54.00. Billable mileage then goes on the client’s invoice like any other expense.
How do I reimburse employees for expenses?
Tick “Reimburse me” on any expense paid out of pocket. The “To reimburse” tab groups the open ones by person with a total. After you pay someone back, an owner or admin clicks “Mark reimbursed” on their group.
Can I export expenses to Excel?
Yes. Filter the list by dates, project and person, then click “CSV”. The file has one row per expense, with date, person, client, project, category, units, amount, currency, billable, reimbursable, reimbursed on, invoiced, notes and receipt, and it opens cleanly in Excel.
Is expense tracking included in every Sumhour plan?
Yes. Every plan, Solo included, has expenses with receipts, per-unit categories, approval and reimbursement. If you do not need them, an admin can turn the module off under Workspace settings.
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