Direct costs

Direct costs are a project’s costs other than its people’s hours: materials, equipment, subcontractors. They sit on the project’s Money tab, under Direct costs, and count in its actual cost.

Add a cost

1. Choose Add cost.
2. Give it a Description, a Cost type if you use them (pick one, or type a new one), the Amount and its Currency, and the date it was Incurred on.
3. If it covers several months, tick Spans multiple months, set when it ends, and choose Spread across months or All at once.
4. Choose Add cost.

The amount is the total for the whole period. A cost in another currency is converted to the project’s currency at the rate of the day it was incurred.

The budget

Set the project’s Direct costs budget with More › Edit. The section then shows how much of it is used. A blank budget is not the same as a budget of zero.

In the forecast

Direct costs are added to the forecast as they are, not scaled by progress. Before the project reports progress, its plan includes the direct costs budget.

Deleting a cost keeps it in the record; it stops counting.