Expense Limits and Rates

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What is an Expense Limit?

An expense limit is the maximum amount for an expenseClosed A record of expenses incurred by resources assigned to a project or opportunity. type on an expense line. An expense limit only applies to an expense line. For instance, with an expense limit of 500 USD, users can still create an expense reportClosed A mechanism for charging expenses incurred to a project or an assignment. with two separate expense lines of 500 USD for the same expense type. When entering an expense, if an expense amount on an expense line exceeds the expense limit, an error message is displayed to the user and the expense line is not saved.

What is an Expense Rate?

An expense rate is used on an expense type, for example, mileage. An expense rate is multiplied by a unit of measurement such as incurred mileage to calculate the expense amount. You can apply different expense rates for different expense types and resource roles. When completing an expense line for an expense type that uses an expense rate, if a user chooses a unit of measurement for which there is no expense rate, they must then override the expense amount. Users can still enter their own expense amount even if an expense amount is calculated using an expense rate.

You can create an expense rate with a start and end date, or you can create a none date-specific expense rate that has blank start and end dates. When a user enters an expense line with a date that is outside all start and end dates you have set on expense rates, the none date-specific expense rate is always applied.

When entering expenses, the expense limits and rates that will be applied are displayed in the project currency.

How are Expense Limits and Rates Applied?

Expense limits and rates are applied:

  • On expense reports for a resourceClosed A contact that works on a project. whose resource role matches one of the resource roles in that expense limit or rate.
  • To an expense line when the selected expense type matches the expense type in the expense limit or rate. Additionally, in the case of an expense rate, the rate is only applied if the unit selected in the expense line also matches the unit in the expense rate.
  • To the selected RPGClosed Abbreviation of region, practice, group. on the expense limit or rate.
  • To the selected project on that expense limit or rate.

If you set the cascading option on an expense limit or rate, that expense limit or rate is applied to all projects in the specified RPG and those below it in the hierarchy.

There are also a number of configuration options in the Expenses configuration groupClosed A collection of configuration options contained in the configuration groups tab that defines behavior of a PSA object or feature. that control the way in which expense limits and rates are applied. See Expense Settings for further information.

Currencies

When entering an expense, users can choose any currency defined in your organization. This represents the currency that the expense was incurred in. For instance, a UK resource working on a US project might incur a Canadian dollar expense. Expense limits and rates are usually in the same currency as the project that they are applied to, but can be in a different currency than the incurred currency. In this situation, the amount of the expense limit or rate is converted. PSA uses dated exchange rates and the Currency Effective Date field on the expense limit or rate to do this. In addition:

  • Expense reports are in the project currency.
  • Billable amounts are calculated in the project currency.
  • Reimbursable amounts are calculated in the resource's currency.