How Do I Rebill Expenses?

Sometimes as a business owner, you may incur Expenses on behalf a Client that you'd like to bill back to them. Rebilling Expenses in FreshBooks is as simple as assigning it to a Client or to a Client's Project, optionally adding a markup and including the receipt image, and then adding it to an Invoice.
 

Assign an Expense to a Client or Project

  1. Follow the steps to make an expense here first
  2. Under Expense Settings (on the right), click on Assign to Client/Project
    Assign to Client or Project option on expense creation screen.
  3. In the Add a Client or project field, type to add a Project or a Client, if assigned to a Project, this will also appear under that Project’s list of associated Expenses to track profitability
  4. To allow the Expense to appear on an Invoice, check off the box next to Mark as billable so you can invoice a client for this expense later
    Mark expense as billable checkbox with fields to fill out.
    1. If needed, check off the box next to Include receipt image on invoice so your Client can see the expense receipt too
    2. If needed, check off the box next to Add a markup and specify the % of expense grand total, if assigned to a Project with an Expense Markup, the percentage will automatically be filled in for you, otherwise you can specify the amount
  5. Click Done, then click on Save to finish. The expense will now be associated to the Client and if indicated, the Client's specific Project too.
 

Rebill the Expense to an Invoice

  1. Go to the Invoices section
  2. Click on an existing Invoice, or the New Invoice button, and ensure a Client is selected
  3. If editing an existing Invoice, click the Edit button
  4. Click on the Add a Line button
  5. Click on Add... link next to Import Unbilled Time, Expenses and Projects to add it to the Invoice 
    Import unnbilled time, expenses and project line item on invoice.
  6. Your Expense(s) will display on the Invoice with their date, description, and amount
    Rebilled expenses displayed on invoice.
  7. Any included Expense Receipts appear at the bottom of the Invoice in the Attachments section. You can delete any specific receipts you don't want to share by clicking on the X button in the top corner of the receipt
    Attachments section on invoice with attachments included and a preview of attachment.
  8. From here, you can continue putting together the rest of your Invoice. You can click Save or Send to finish.
 

FAQs:

I assigned the Expense to a Client, but it's not appearing on the Invoice for rebilling. Why? 
The Expense should be marked as billable, and both the Expense and Invoice have to be in the same currency. If it is not appearing, you can change the currency on the Invoice with the steps here.

Why are my Expense receipt images not showing up on the Invoice?
The Expense itself may not be enabled to include the receipt image on the Invoice.
  1. Remove the Expenses from the Invoice first (trash can icon)
  2. Go to the Expenses section
  3. Click on the Expense, then the Edit button
  4. Click on Mark as Billable in the top right under Expense Settings
  5. Ensure Include receipt image on Invoice is checked off and saved.

Where do my rebilled Expenses go in my Reports? 
All Expenses appear in your Profit & Loss Report. On the Profit & Loss Report, Expenses that are categorized as Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS) will appear in the Cost of Goods Sold section while Expenses categorized as Operating Expenses will appear in the Less Expenses section instead.