Overview
The Direct Costs module records and manages project-related expenses that fall outside of formal contracts or vendor-issued invoices. These are typically internal or miscellaneous costs — employee reimbursements, travel, mileage, labor, or company-paid materials — that still need to be tracked for accurate project budgeting.
Logging direct costs here ensures the project budget reflects all financial activity, including uncontracted expenses, and lets teams track internal spending at the employee level.
The Direct Costs List
The Direct Costs module displays a table of all existing entries with the following columns:
Direct Cost Name
Date of Direct Cost
Employee Name
Type — Subcontract, Labor, Labor Burden, Material, Equipment, Expense, or Other.
Category — select the category that best describes the cost (e.g., Business Development).
Initially Paid By — indicate who initially paid the cost: Company or Employee.
Project site locations
Cost Code
Direct Cost Amount
Use the filter panel on the right to narrow the list by date, status, cost code, type, or employee.
Process
1. Add a new Direct Cost
a. From the Direct Costs module, click Add Direct Cost in the upper-right corner. The Add Direct Cost wizard opens to Step 1: Details.
b. Fill in the required fields (marked with a red asterisk):
Direct Cost Name
Date of Direct Cost
Employee Name
Type — select from Subcontract, Labor, Labor Burden, Material, Equipment, Expense, or Other.
Project site locations — select the site the cost applies to. Cost codes will load based on the selected site.
Cost Code
Direct Cost Amount
c. Click Next Step to continue to Step 2: Note & Files.
d. (Optional) Add a note or import a supporting file.
e. Click Submit Direct Cost to submit, or Save as Draft to complete it later.
Note: Direct Costs do not have an automated approval workflow. Status changes are made manually by users with the appropriate permissions.
2. Change the status of a Direct Cost
A direct cost moves through one of five statuses:
Draft — initial state; editable.
Pending — submitted for review.
Approved — confirmed by a reviewer.
Paid — reimbursed or completed.
Rejected — declined or marked invalid.
To change the status:
a. Click into the Direct Cost entry you want to modify.
b. Click Change Status in the upper-right corner.
c. Select the new status.
Note: Only Draft entries can be edited. To update a non-Draft entry, change its status back to Draft first.
3. Delete a Direct Cost
A direct cost can only be deleted while in Draft status.
a. If the entry is not already in Draft, change its status to Draft (see Section 2).
b. In the Direct Costs list, click the trash icon next to the entry.
Direct Costs in the Project Budget
Direct costs appear in the Your Budget view of the Project Budget module. Each status maps to a specific budget column:
Direct Cost Status | Budget Column |
Pending | Pending Direct Costs |
Approved | Approved Direct Costs |
Paid | Paid Amount ($) |