Markup lets you charge a customer more than an expense cost you, for example to cover handling. You set it on an expense category, and Avaza adds it to each billable expense in that category when you put the expense on an invoice. The expense itself keeps its real amount.

Set the markup

  1. Go to Settings › Expense Settings. Under Expense Categories, click the category, or click Add Category to create one.

  2. Enter an Invoice Markup Percent, a + Fixed Markup Amount, or both. The fixed amount is in your account currency.

    Category Details for Travel with a 10% Invoice Markup Percent and a 5.00 Fixed Markup Amount, above the Save, Cancel and Delete buttons

  3. Click Save.

Only Administrators and Finance Managers can change expense categories. The Percent Markup and Fixed Markup columns show what each category adds. See expense categories.

How the markup reaches the invoice

On the invoice, click Add Expense and choose the expenses, as described in invoicing time, expenses and fixed amounts. Each line's price is the expense amount, plus the percentage of it, plus the fixed amount. For example, an expense of 100.00 before tax, in a category with 10% and a fixed 5.00, goes on the invoice at 115.00.

The Edit Invoice page for Fernleaf Media, with the Add Time, Add Expense and Add Fixed Amount buttons at the top
  • It's part of the price. The markup is included in the line's Unit Price, not shown as a separate line. With Project & Category grouping, each expense's markup is added to its group's line.
  • Tax. When the invoice's Amounts are setting is Tax Exclusive, the percentage is worked out on the amount before tax. On a Tax Inclusive invoice, it's worked out on the amount including tax.
  • The fixed amount is per expense. Ten expenses in the category add it ten times. On an invoice in another currency, Avaza converts it from your account currency.
  • Today's markup applies. Avaza uses the category's markup at the moment you add the expense to an invoice, not when the expense was recorded. A change affects every expense that isn't invoiced yet.
  • Recurring invoices that include unbilled expenses add the markup the same way. See recurring invoices.

Before you add them, the Add Expense window lists each expense's Expense Amount, Markup Amount and Invoice Amount. Afterwards you can still edit a line's price. Only billable expenses that are approved, or approved automatically, and not yet invoiced are listed. If one is missing, see why expenses can't be added.

Different markup for different projects

Markup belongs to the category and applies across the whole account. You can't set a different markup for one project or customer.

The workaround is a separate category with its own markup, such as "Travel – Harbour Legal" at 15%. Your team then chooses that category for that customer's travel. The drawback is a longer list: every enabled category appears on every expense, whatever the project. Adding categories in a project's settings doesn't narrow the list, because those are for budgets.

Markup in reports

The Expense Details report's totals leave the markup out. Add its Markup Amount columns to see it. The Project Summary report can Apply Expense Markup to billable expenses. If an invoice line doesn't match a report, see why expense amounts differ.