Help centre / Projects, volunteers & impact / Track time and expenses on a project
Track time and expenses on a project
Open the project. Use Log time to record volunteer or paid hours, and Record cost to record spending. Spend adds up automatically against the board-agreed budget, so the project always shows how much has gone and how much is left.
Log hours on a project
- Open the project from Projects.
- On the Time logged card, select Log time.
- Enter the hours and the date.
- Leave Person set to Me, or pick someone else, for example a volunteer whose hours you're recording for them.
- Choose Volunteer or Paid, add a short note of what was done, and select Log time.
Record a cost
- Under Costs & time, select Record cost.
- Describe the cost, for example venue hire or printing, and enter the amount.
- Pick a type: Expense, or Invoiced time for hours someone has billed you for.
- Set the status: recorded, paid, or reconciled in your accounts.
- Add the payee if it's useful, then select Record cost.
What happens next
The project's spend updates the moment you save. Spend is always the total of the costs you've recorded, so the budget bar can never disagree with the list beneath it. If spend goes past the board-agreed budget, the bar and the spend figures turn red, on the project and on the Projects page.
Volunteer hours feed your impact report, so logging them is worth the minute it takes. When you come to report on the year, the hours are already counted.
Common questions
I made a mistake. Can I fix it?
Yes. Delete the time log or the cost, and the totals update straight away. Then add it again with the right figures.
Why can't I change the budget here?
The board-agreed budget is a trustee decision, so you propose a change rather than edit it. See Run a project.