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Create a Labor Expense from Scratch 

Manually record a project's labor cost as a Labor Expense in ConstructionOnline's OnCost™ Purchasing feature

BACKGROUND

Not all labor cost originates from a logged Time Tracking shift. Subcontracted crews, payroll data tracked in an outside system, or labor cost estimated before work has even started all need a place to live in your project's budget. ConstructionOnline™ allows a Labor Expense to be created directly, entering cost line items instead of pulling them from existing shifts—so labor cost stays accounted for regardless of where the underlying hours were tracked.  

THINGS TO CONSIDER

  • Labor Expenses can be accessed at both the Company and Project levels: 

    • Company-Level: The Project field must be selected manually when creating a Labor Expense. 
    • Project-Level: The Project field is automatically populated with the current Project and cannot be changed. 
  • The link to Estimate tab is only available if the selected Project has an associated Estimate. 
  • Selecting "Mark as Paid" automatically creates a full payment for the Labor Expense when it's saved. 
  • Subtotal, Tax, and Total are calculated automatically based on the items entered. 

  • Within ConstructionOnline, any field that shows the gear icon is a Custom Value. Clicking the icon allows users to add, edit, or remove selectable options for that field.

HOW TO CREATE A LABOR EXPENSE FROM SCRATCH

  1. Navigate to the Purchasing feature. 

  2. Select the "Labor Expenses" tab. 
  3. Click the green (+) Create New Labor Expense button and select "... From Scratch" from the dropdown menu.
  4. The "Create New Expense from Scratch" window will open, where you can enter information about the Labor Expense, including -
    1. Details
      1. Project: The Project the Labor Expense is associated with. 
        1. If creating the Labor Expense from within a Project, this field is automatically populated and cannot be changed. 
      2. Title: A descriptive name for the Labor Expense. This field is required.  
        1. By default, ConstructionOnline populates the title as "Labor Expense." 
      3. Status: The current status of the Labor Expense (e.g., Complete, Pending, New). Status values are drawn from the Receipt Status custom value set.
      4. Tags: Assign any predefined keywords of labels to the Labor Expense. 
        1. By using Tags in ConstructionOnline, you can easily sort and track information within the system.
      5. Date Range: The date range the Labor Expense covers. 
      6. Mark as Paid: When enabled, a payment in full is automatically created for the Labor Expense once it's saved. 
      7. Line Items table: Enter the following for each labor cost line item: 
        1. Name: A descriptive name for the item. 
        2. Billable: Whether the item should be included when invoicing the Project's client. 
        3. Total: The dollar amount of the item. 

          🗒️ Note: Click the (+) Add Item button to add another row. 
      8. Notes: Add any relevant notes to the Labor Expense. 
    2. Link to Estimate: If the selected Project has an associated Estimate, select the appropriate Category, Subcategory, or Estimate Item for each item. This supports the population of job costing values directly within Estimate views. 
      1. The estimate fields available on the Link to Estimate tab depend on the estimate type and level of detail: an advanced, or 3-level, estimate offers Category, Subcategory, and Item, while a simple, or 2-level, estimate offers only Category and Subcategory. 
    3. Attachments: Upload any files and/or photos pertinent to the Labor Expense.   

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

  • Subscription Level: The Labor Expenses feature is available for any active ConstructionOnline subscription with access to OnCost Purchasing, whether included at the Team, Business, and Enterprise levels or as a Per-Company Add-On.
  • Permissions: Admin Users and Company Users with "Can Create & Edit" or "Can Create, Edit, & Delete" Expenses & Receipts permissions can create Labor Expenses from scratch. 

HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?

  • If you need additional assistance, chat with a ConstructionOnline Specialist by clicking the orange Chat icon in the bottom left corner or visit the UDA Support Page for more options.