Overview
GL-Based Costing calculates job and project costs using the same General Ledger (GL) accounts that drive your financial statements.
If your business exports transactions to your accounting system using the batch, post, and export process (document-based integration), this article explains what GL-Based Costing provides, what to verify in your configuration, and what changes to expect.
Who uses this feature
Administrators, accountants, bookkeepers, and managers
Applies to all business types
Applies to all trades
Feature configuration
Account configuration is required to use this feature. Contact Technical Support for details.
The View Job Financials and Access Financial Dashboard permissions are required to use this feature. Contact the account administrator on your team.
Things to know
GL-Based Costing does not change your accounting integration method. You continue to export transactions (bills, invoices, and so on) to your accounting system using the batch, post, and export process you use today.
GL-Based Costing uses the General Ledger service and journal entries internally to drive job cost reporting. It does not require you to export journal entries.
The legacy Job Costing and Project Costing flyouts are replaced by the Job Financials and Project Financials views after GL-Based Costing is enabled.
Non-inventory materials on invoices only produce job costs when they are tied to purchase orders with receipts or bills. Inventory items consumed on jobs continue to produce cost.
Costs are tied to accounting periods. Job profitability aligns with your month-end financial statements.
How GL-Based Costing differs from legacy costing
With legacy (operational) costing, costs are created based on activity in the system, such as creating a purchase order, receiving materials, or entering a bill. The system calculates job cost from those actions, and the General Ledger is updated afterward. Accounting alignment is secondary.
With GL-Based Costing, costs are created based on how transactions affect the General Ledger. Each job cost ties directly to a journal entry and a GL account. Costs follow accounting rules, respect accounting periods, and can be audited. Accounting is the source of truth.
What you get with GL-Based Costing
GL-Based Costing provides the following capabilities:
Costs organized by GL account: Job profitability is broken down the same way your accountant sees it, by the GL accounts transactions are assigned to.
Period-based reporting: Costs are tied to accounting periods, so job profitability aligns with month-end financial statements.
Stronger audit trail: Every cost ties back to a journal entry.
Job Financials view: A ledger-backed view on the job record that shows Budget vs. Actuals, revenue and expense breakdowns by GL account, and key financial KPIs. This replaces the legacy Job Costing flyout.
Project Financials view: An updated project-level financial view powered by GL account data. This replaces the legacy Project Costing flyout.
Customer and Location Financial Summary: A rollup view of lifetime revenue, expenses, and margin data from the customer or location record.
Accounting Financials Dashboard: A centralized view of Over/Under Billing (WIP), Customer Balances, and Project Financials with configurable columns, filters, and data grouping.
Verify your configuration
After GL-Based Costing is enabled on your account, verify the following areas are configured correctly.
Verify permissions
Go to the top toolbar and click Settings
.In the side panel, go to People > Role Permissions.
Click Edit next to the role you want to update.
Verify that the following permissions are enabled for owners, administrators, and accounting roles:
Access Financial Dashboard
View Job Financials
View Balance Fields
View Revenue Field
View Cost Fields
View Journal Entry Landing Page
(Optional) Enable the following permissions for accounting workflows:
Accounting Period Management
Journal Entry Action - Exclude From Syncing
Journal Entry Action - Include In Syncing
When finished, click Save.
Verify GL accounts
Go to the top toolbar and click Settings
.In the side panel, go to Accounting > General Ledger Accounts.
Review the default GL accounts that appear after GL-Based Costing is activated.
Edit them to match the equivalent accounts in your accounting platform.
Tip: Aligning GL account names between ServiceTitan and your accounting platform makes reconciliation simpler and reduces mapping errors.
Verify costing settings
Go to the top toolbar and click Settings
.In the side panel, go to Accounting > Costing.
From the Calculation Source dropdown, confirm your preferred costing calculation source is selected (Purchase Orders, Receipts, or Vendor Bills). Your existing preference carries forward.
What changes after GL-Based Costing is enabled
Area | Before (legacy costing) | After (GL-Based Costing) |
|---|---|---|
Job Costing view | Job Costing flyout on the job record | Replaced by the Job Financials view with Budget vs. Actuals, revenue and expense breakdowns by GL account, and key financial KPIs |
Project Costing view | Project Costing flyout on the project record | Replaced by the updated Project Financials view, powered by GL account data |
Customer record | Basic balance and revenue fields | Customer Financials summary with lifetime revenue, expenses, and margin data |
Non-inventory materials | Non-inventory items on invoices produce job costs automatically | Only non-inventory items tied to purchase orders with receipts or bills produce job costs |
Cost calculation | Costs are derived from system activity (POs, receipts, bills), and the GL is updated afterward | Costs are derived from how transactions affect the General Ledger, and each cost ties to a journal entry and GL account |
Accounting export | Document-based batch, post, and export | No change. Your document-based export workflow is unaffected |