Recording Costs and Expenses
Summary
Costs in Jewlerist record money spent: materials purchased, lab work, casting, setting, shipping, or overhead such as rent and electricity. Costs are divided into two types — direct costs (linked to a specific asset or order) and overhead costs (period expenses not allocated to individual pieces). Together, they build the money trail that shows what your work actually costs.
Who this is for
This article is for users who want to record expenses, understand the difference between direct costs and overhead, and build an accurate picture of profitability.
Direct costs
A direct cost is money spent on something that can be traced to a specific asset, order, or design. Examples:
- The cost of a diamond purchased for a specific commission.
- The cost of casting work sent out for a particular ring.
- The cost of a clasp component used in a necklace.
- Shipping costs for delivering a specific order.
When you create a direct cost, you can link it to:
- An asset: The cost is associated with that asset (e.g. the purchase price of a stone).
- A design: The cost is associated with a design being developed.
- An order: The cost is associated with a specific piece of commercial work.
- A vendor: The contact who supplied the material or service.
- A batch ID: An optional reference for grouping related costs (e.g. a single invoice from a supplier that covers multiple items).
Direct costs contribute to the total cost of the asset or order they are linked to, which lets you calculate profitability.
Overhead costs
An overhead cost is a period expense that cannot be traced to a specific asset or order. Examples:
- Monthly rent.
- Electricity and gas.
- Software subscriptions.
- Tools and equipment.
- Consumables (solder, polishing compounds, etc.).
Overhead costs are not linked to assets, designs, or orders. They affect your overall period profitability without being allocated to individual pieces.
Recurring overhead
Overhead costs can be set up as recurring. When you create a recurring overhead expense, you specify:
- Amount and currency.
- Interval: Monthly, weekly, or yearly.
- Next occurrence date: When the next expense should be recorded.
- End date (optional): When the recurring schedule should stop.
Jewlerist creates individual cost lines on schedule. You can review and modify them before they are finalised.
Cost categories
Every cost is assigned to a category. Categories help you organise and report on expenses. Jewlerist provides default categories:
Direct cost categories: Purchase, Labor, Lab, Casting, Setting, Shipping, Customs, Fees, Repair, Misc.
Overhead categories: Electricity, Gas, Rent, Tools, Software, Consumables.
You can add custom categories from the Expenses section. Each category is marked as either direct or overhead, and you can deactivate categories you no longer use.
Recording a cost
Go to Expenses in the sidebar and create a new expense. You will be asked for:
- Amount: The amount spent (required, must be greater than zero).
- Currency: The currency of the expense. If different from the workspace base currency, the exchange rate is recorded.
- Date: When the expense occurred.
- Type: Direct or overhead.
- Category: The cost category.
- Vendor: The contact who supplied the material or service (optional).
- Asset, design, or order: For direct costs, what the cost is linked to.
- VAT rate: If applicable, the VAT rate. The VAT amount is calculated automatically.
- Notes: Free-text notes.
For direct costs, you can also specify a batch ID to group related expenses.
Multi-currency costs
If you record a cost in a currency different from your workspace base currency, Jewlerist stores both the original amount and the equivalent in the base currency, using the exchange rate at the time of the expense. Historical rates are preserved, so changing the base currency later does not alter past entries.
Filtering and searching costs
The expenses list supports filtering by:
- Type: Direct or overhead.
- Category: A specific cost category.
- Asset: Costs linked to a specific asset.
- Date range: Costs within a specific period.
Archiving costs
Costs can be archived (with a reason) to remove them from active lists while preserving their history. Archived costs can be restored.