Cost-plus invoicing

On a cost-plus project, you bill your costs plus a margin. Foreman handles this by pricing each invoice line straight from the budget: it takes the item's cost and margin and computes the client price, so you never do the math by hand. As you invoice, it tracks how much of each budget item is left to bill.

How margin pricing works

For a budget line priced from cost and margin, the margin formula is:

price = cost ÷ (1 − margin%)

So a $1,000 cost at a 20% margin produces a $1,250 client price. This is true margin (profit as a share of price), not a flat markup on cost. The invoice picker uses the available budget or accepted-agreement price; it does not automatically bill every new actual cost as it arrives.

Bill from the budget

Create an invoice from Records for the project.
In the editor's line-items block, click Add items (once the invoice has rows, the same control reads Edit items).
In the Select items picker, each item shows its Approved amount, what's already Invoiced on previous invoices, and an editable This Invoice column — pre-filled with everything not yet billed. Once the project has a signed agreement the picker lists only what that agreement priced, and no line can be billed past its approved amount — an amber warning marks any row Foreman capped at the remaining balance.
Set the amount or % to bill on this invoice (or set one % across all selected items), then click Apply.

Because lines stay linked to the budget, what you bill rolls up into the budget's Invoiced column, and the amount left to bill on each item shrinks as you go — so the next invoice defaults to billing only what's left.

Note

The same thing works in reverse: select the lines on the budget sheet, open Selected row actions, choose Create a record from these lines, and choose Invoice under Client Finances. The invoice opens with those lines on it, each already set to the remaining amount — no picker step. Save the invoice to keep the imported rows.

Progress billing across invoices

To bill a cost-plus project in stages, send multiple invoices over time. Each time you open the budget picker, Foreman already knows what's been invoiced on sent invoices and offers the remainder, so partial bills add up to exactly the approved total without double-billing.

Note

This picker controls the amount on the current invoice. Review each invoice's saved rows and prior billing before sending it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does cost-plus pricing change my budget?

Changing the amount billed through the invoice picker does not change the budget's estimate or margin. Sending the invoice updates its billing contribution, so the budget's Invoiced amount does change.

Can I bill above the approved price?

The client invoice picker caps each row at its remaining billable amount. If the accepted agreement does not cover additional scope, get that scope approved through a change order before billing it.