Use project labels

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Overview

Use project labels to organize expenses in the Budget vs. Actual table and to populate the schedule of values used in creating Applications for Payment. You can view expenses by project phase and drill down to see the breakdown of spending within each phase.

In this article, you can learn how to:

  • Create a visual representation of your expenses through project labels and hierarchies

  • Manage project label hierarchies in connection to the schedule of values

  • Avoid uncategorized expenses


Who uses this feature

  • Project managers, accountants, administrators, and estimators

  • Primarily for Residential Construction and Commercial Construction business types

Things to know

  • Create project labels to attach to expense items to get a visual representation of your expense spending. You can color code your labels and assign labels to categories to help organize your Budget vs. Actual tables.

  • After you create project labels, set your defaults for materials, equipment, labor services, discounts, fees, and technician labor. Labels are used to organize actuals in the Expense Details table.

  • Items without a project label display as uncategorized on the Budget vs. Actual and Expense Detail tables.

  • Labels on estimates and invoices can be edited from the office. Technicians can't edit labels in ServiceTitan Mobile.

Use project label hierarchies

You can attach project labels to expense items to show a visual representation of a project's expenses. The Budget vs. Actual (BvA) table totals expenses for the highest level labels, or parent labels, in a single line item. You can nest labels under each other to form a hierarchy of labels, allowing you to drill down into the lower levels of detail in the Budget vs. Actual table.

Expense breakdown showing categories like Rough In, Labor, and their respective costs.

Using project label hierarchies allows you to easily identify incurred costs and identify where you may be overspending or where the project may be over budget. Project label hierarchies also increase efficiency throughout a project's billing by improving your project manager's visibility into expenses.

To create project label hierarchies:

  1. Create an estimate on the location or project record and add an estimate item.

  2. Click Morenext to the item you want to add hierarchy to and select Edit the itemEstimate items table showing tasks, quantities, and options to edit or delete items.

  3. Click the Project Label dropdown and select the label you want to associate with the estimate item.  

    Note: All active project labels associated with your account appear in the list.

    List of construction phases and associated costs including labor and materials.

  4. To add a hierarchy, click Add Another Label and select another label. Project labels for Rough In and Labor with an option to add more labels.

  5. After adding all needed project labels to create a hierarchy, click Save.

  6. Repeat the steps above for other estimate items as necessary.

Connect project label hierarchies to the schedule of values

Project labels also provide information to the Application for Payment workflow. A project's schedule of values is directly populated by the project's highest hierarchies, called parent labels.

The example below shows how parent labels inform the schedule of values and display on the Budget vs. Actual table and Continuation Sheet.

Budget and actual expenses comparison for various project phases and overall margin analysis.

Label hierarchies allow you to take a phased approach where you can group expenses by phase to track costs throughout the project. In this example, the phases of Rough In, Trim Out, and Start Up are the parent labels at the top of the hierarchy.

Budget and actual expenses for project categories including labor, materials, and equipment.

Project label hierarchy streamlines the billing process when you generate an invoice through the Application for Payment workflow for the completion of a phase. Because the phases are the top hierarchies, or parent labels, they populate the schedule of values on the Continuation Sheet.

Continuation sheet showing scheduled values and work descriptions for a project.

Avoid uncategorized expenses

If there is an Uncategorized expense in your Budget vs. Actual table, this means that an item doesn't have a project label associated with it. Uncategorized expenses don't show where the cost exists, making it more difficult for your project managers to identify and control rising costs.

Budget vs Actual table showing categorized project expenses and their variances.

The best practice to avoid uncategorized expenses is to associate all estimate and invoice items, purchase orders and bills, and labor with a project label.

If you find uncategorized expenses in your project:

  1. Click Uncategorized in the Budget vs. Actual table to see which items don't have a project label. Budget overview showing expenses, actual costs, and variances for project categories.

  2. The Itemized Details page opens that shows the itemized details for the uncategorized expense. Click the link in the Source column to go to the item.
    For example, the Work Material on the invoice doesn't have a project label associated with it, so it is uncategorized on the project's Budget vs. Actual table. Invoice details showing total amount and uncategorized project label for work material.

  3. Associate a project label to the item to classify the expense and remove it from the Uncategorized row in the Budget vs. Actual table. Project labels indicating stages: Rough In and Labor for construction tasks.

  4. When finished, click Save.

After you classify the expense, the Uncategorized line item no longer appears on the Budget vs. Actual table.

Budget and actual expenses for project phases, highlighting Rough In details and variance.

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