THE CONNECTION
A completed project and a paid project tell you different things. Review collected payments, outstanding amounts, logged hours and allocated delivery costs together. Trace a figure to the client or work behind it before drawing a conclusion about the result. Use your accounting records to confirm the wider financial picture.
Read the Scan methodology Explore client management
Collected cash, unpaid invoices and estimates stay distinct. You can see the basis of the figure you are reading.
Logged time and direct expenses explain allocated delivery costs. Unallocated company overhead remains separate.
Financial calculations follow defined rules. AI advisory can explain a result and its related risks within the user’s access.
Payments, expenses, purchases, receivables, recurring invoices, 13-week cash flow planning and information in multiple currencies. Statutory accounting and tax filing remain separate.
Further reading: Fixed price or hourly: choosing project by project.
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In PLYNTUM the project sits under its client with its value. Tasks or phases carry estimated hours, people log time against them, and direct expenses such as a freelancer or a licence are recorded on the project. From Core, logged hours at each person’s loaded cost, plus those expenses, are set against the project value. That is what project accounting means here: cost and revenue tracked per project. The result is contribution before overhead, not net profit, and statutory accounting, VAT and payroll stay in your accounting system.
The figures below are an example, not a benchmark. A fixed-fee website project is priced at $18,000 with a 40% target margin, so costs may reach $10,800. Direct costs are $1,200, which leaves $9,600 for labor: 240 hours at a blended $40 an hour.
| Budget | After week 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 240 | 170 approved |
| Labor at $40 an hour | $9,600 | $6,800 |
| Direct costs | $1,200 | $1,200 |
| Total cost | $10,800 | $8,000 |
| Share of the cost budget used | – | 74% |
The open tasks still carry 110 estimated hours. If they land on estimate, the project closes at 280 hours and $12,400 of cost: a 31% margin instead of 40%. Seen in week 5, that is a conversation about scope; seen after the final invoice, it is money already lost. See fixed price or hourly and how scope creep builds up.
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