How do I record a company expense, or a petty expense on a project?

Last verified: October 22, 2026اقرأه بالعربيّة

What you will do

You record what the company spends outside contractor, supplier and employee vouchers, in two kinds:

General expense: for the whole company, with no project and no party. Like rent, electricity and marketing.
Project petty expense: a small amount spent during the work, like transport, tips and hospitality. It counts toward the project's cost, and you can charge it to the customer.

Know whether your payment vouchers need approval. The setting is in Settings → Operations → Payment vouchers require approval and payment confirmation. If it's off, the expense is recorded as paid the moment you save it; otherwise, it's saved as Pending until it's approved and paid. For a petty expense, each project can override the general setting, as with a contractor payment voucher.
No money moves until the expense becomes paid. Before that, the treasury balance doesn't go down, and the expense doesn't count in the profit.
A general expense is paid from the treasury only. A petty expense can be paid from an employee custody.

Open Payments in the sidebar, then General expense, then click Add general expense.
Choose the Expense category, like rent or utilities. If you can't find your category, choose "+ Add New Expense Category" at the end of the list and type its name.
Type the Amount.
Leave the Voucher date on today, or choose the day the money was spent if it has already passed.
Type a Description if you want, like "Office rent October".
Click Save Data. The message "Invoice added successfully" appears.

Open the project, then click Record a payment, then Project petty expense. A drawer opens with the title Add petty expense.
In Project construction item (optional), choose the item it was spent on. Or leave it on "مصروفات نثرية (no item)", and it's recorded on an automatic item with that name.
Choose the service in Select Service, like transport. If you can't find it, choose "+ Add New Payment Service", type its name, then click Save next to it.
Type the Amount. Charged to customer is filled with the same amount automatically.
Check Charged to customer. It's what is added to the customer's account. If the expense is on you alone and you don't want the customer to pay it, type zero in it.
Choose the Funding source: From the treasury or From an employee custody. With a custody, choose it in Choose a custody.
Type a Description if you want, and upload the receipt image from Upload receipt image.
Click Save. The message "Invoice added successfully" appears.

If your payment vouchers don't need approval: the expense is recorded as paid immediately, and the treasury (or custody) balance goes down by the amount.
If they need approval: it's saved as Pending, and no money moves. Then someone who has the permission completes it:
1. Open the expense from its list.
2. Choose Approved from Select invoice status, then click Save Data. The message "Invoice updated successfully" appears.
3. Choose the Payment Method and the Payment date, then click Confirm payment. The expense becomes Paid, and the treasury balance goes down.
In the treasury: a "General Expense Voucher" line appears with the description and category, or a petty expense line with the service and project.
A paid petty expense shows on the project page in the Petty expenses line, and it reduces the Actual profit. Charged to customer is added to what the customer owes.

Each kind's list: Payments → General expense or Project petty expense. At the top of the general expense list there's a "Company expenses by category" panel: the count, what was paid, and what's still pending, for each category.
In the company's profit: from Reports → Financial reports, and in Overview, the Total operating expenses line.
In the company expense report: from Reports → Company Expense Report, the General expenses by category section: the count, what was paid, and what's still pending, for each category. It's a separate section, so general expenses aren't included in Company Total or in the partners' distribution.

While it's Pending: open it and edit it, or choose Rejected for it from Select invoice status, then record another one.
A paid petty expense: open it and click Cancel / reverse voucher, then type the reason for cancelling. The amount is returned, and its effect is removed from the project and the customer. Then record another one.
A paid general expense: it can't be cancelled from its page. Select it in its list and click Delete selected, then "Yes, force delete". The amount is returned to the treasury. Then record another one.

You're the account owner, so you have every permission. If you want an employee to record expenses for you, give their level what it needs:

For general expenses: View general expense vouchers for its list, Add general expense voucher to add one, Approve or reject general expense voucher and Mark general expense voucher as paid to approve and pay it, and Delete general expense voucher to delete it.
For petty expenses: View project petty expenses, Add project petty expense, Approve or reject project petty expense and Mark project petty expense as paid, and Edit project petty expense, because the server requires edit along with approving and paying.

You don't see General expense or Project petty expense under Payments: your account has no permission to view or add it.
The expense stayed Pending and the treasury didn't change: your payment vouchers need approval. Complete it with the steps above.
You don't see Funding source in a general expense: a general expense is paid from the treasury only.
What the customer owes went up after a petty expense: because Charged to customer had the amount. If it shouldn't be on them, cancel the expense and record it again with zero in Charged to customer.