Finance

Manage every pound that moves through your estate. The finance module gives you cost centres, cost entries, budgets, suppliers, invoices, and reports in one place, with full visibility into both committed and actual spend.

Cost Centres

Cost centres are the buckets every cost and budget is allocated to. They can be hierarchical, so a top-level "Level 3" centre can have children like "Level 3, Open Plan", "Level 3, Plant Room", and so on. Costs and budgets are always attached to a cost centre, which is what makes per-area reporting possible.

Creating a Cost Centre

1. Go to Finance → Cost Centres.
2. Click New Cost Centre and enter:
   • Code: a short reference, e.g. L3-OPN.
   • Name: the human-readable label.
   • Parent: optionally nest it under another cost centre.
   • Description: what this centre covers.
3. Click Create. The cost centre is now available when raising cost entries and budgets.

Cost Entries

Cost entries record individual expenses. They can be standalone, or linked to a work order, asset, purchase order, building, or space so the cost rolls up to the right place in reports and to the work-order detail.

Categories

Every cost entry is tagged with one of four categories, which drive the colour coding on the cost-entries list and the breakdown charts on the finance dashboard:

• Labour: engineer and technician time.
• Parts: materials and components used in maintenance.
• Contractor: third-party contractor charges.
• Other: anything that does not fit the three above (travel, consumables, etc.).

Adding a Cost Entry

1. Go to Finance → Cost Entries.
2. Click Create Cost Entry and enter:
   • Description: what the cost is for.
   • Amount: the cost value.
   • Category: Labour, Parts, Contractor, or Other.
   • Incurred on: the date the cost was incurred.
   • Linked item: optionally link to a work order, asset, purchase order, building, or space so the cost flows into the right totals.
3. Click Create. The cost entry is recorded and immediately included in finance reports and dashboard totals.

Budgets

A budget is an annual envelope of money allocated to a cost centre. Each budget tracks three amounts: total allocated, encumbered (committed via issued purchase orders), and actual spend (released from encumbrance when a received invoice is approved). The available balance at any time is allocated − encumbered − actual.

For the full procurement flow, how encumbrance is released, how a negative available balance is handled, and how the engine resolves a purchase order into actual spend, see the Procurement & Budgets article in this help centre.

Suppliers

Suppliers are the companies you buy goods, parts, and services from on a purchase order. They are distinct from contractors, which are labour providers assigned to work orders. Each supplier has a name, contact details, payment terms, and any reference numbers your accounts team needs. See Procurement & Budgets for the full supplier workflow.

Invoices

The app tracks two distinct types of invoice. They serve different purposes and use different status workflows.

Standalone Invoices

Used for ad-hoc billing outside the procurement flow, for example, a utility bill or a contractor invoice raised without a purchase order. A standalone invoice can be linked to a work order, contractor, building, or space so it is visible against the right record. Statuses:

• Draft: being prepared, not yet sent.
• Sent: issued to the recipient, awaiting payment.
• Paid: settled.
• Overdue: past its due date and unpaid.

The finance dashboard surfaces outstanding and overdue amounts, and the invoices index can be filtered by status or by due-date window.

Received Invoices (Procurement)

A received invoice is the supplier's bill against a purchase order. It is run through a three-way match against the PO, and may be auto-approved or placed on variance hold depending on your company's tolerance configuration. The full lifecycle and statuses (Pending Match, Auto-Approved, Variance Hold, Approved, Rejected) are covered in the Procurement & Budgets article.

Tolerance & Variance Matching

Tolerance is configured per company at Finance → Tolerance as two thresholds: a percentage and an absolute amount. Defaults are 5% and £50. A received invoice whose total is within both thresholds of its PO is auto-approved; one that exceeds either is placed on variance hold for a finance admin to review. The full workflow (including override and rejection) is covered in Procurement & Budgets.

Finance Dashboard & Reports

The finance dashboard gives an at-a-glance view of total spend, outstanding invoices, budget utilisation, and a cost breakdown by category. Use it to monitor burn rate and spot trends early.

Under Finance → Reports you will find three printable reports, each with on-screen and PDF output and CSV export:

• Monthly Spend Summary: a month-by-month breakdown of total cost across a date range, useful for board packs and accruals.
• Asset Cost History: every cost entry attached to a specific asset, ideal for warranty claims and lifecycle decisions.
• Contractor Spend: invoiced and committed spend per contractor over a date range, with year-to-date totals surfaced on the contractors directory.

Permissions Overview

• Facilities managers and finance admins: full access: create and manage cost centres, cost entries, budgets, suppliers, purchase orders, received invoices, standalone invoices, tolerance, and reports. Finance admins and facilities managers can approve variance-hold invoices and change tolerance configuration.
• Site managers: view everything; create and receive invoices and POs. Can approve variance holds but cannot change tolerance.
• Contracts managers: view financial information and generate reports. Useful for oversight without edit rights.
• All other roles: no access to the finance module.

Common Questions

Can I record a cost without linking it to anything?

Yes. A cost entry only needs a description, amount, category, and date. Linking to a work order, asset, purchase order, building, or space is optional but recommended so the cost appears in the right totals and reports.

What's the difference between a cost entry and an invoice?

A cost entry is an expense you have incurred or are recording (the cost of a job). An invoice is a bill you have received or sent (the request for payment). The two can be linked: a received invoice can attach to a purchase order whose cost entries feed into the same cost centre.

Can a single cost entry be split across multiple cost centres?

Not directly. Each cost entry has one location (and therefore one cost centre via the building/space). If a single supplier invoice needs to be split, create multiple cost entries, one per cost centre, and link them all to the same work order or purchase order.

Why are my reports showing different totals from the dashboard?

Each report has its own date filter. The dashboard shows a recent window by default; the reports default to the current calendar year. Adjust the date range at the top of the report to align the numbers.

How do I export finance data for my accountant?

Go to Finance → Reports, pick a report, set the date range, and click Export CSV. The downloaded file contains the same line items the report shows on screen, ready to load into a spreadsheet.