# Finance (https://docs.akollo.com/en/modules/finance)



Finance connects the work your teams do with what it costs and earns. Employees record expenses; managers and finance approve them; finance keeps budgets, billing and cost rates, compares budget with actual and closes monthly periods. Akollo is not your general ledger: your accounting system stays the book of record.

Finance has its own section in the sidebar. **Finance overview** opens first; the tabs lead to **Expenses**, **Billing**, **Contractors**, **Budgets** and **Profitability**, and **More** holds **Rate cards**, **Accounting exports**, **Periods** and **Settings**. For every field and status in detail, see [Finance](/en/product-guide/finance).

## Who uses it [#who-uses-it]

| Role                                     | What they do here                                                                                                                                          |
| ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Employee**                             | Records expenses with receipts and follows them to reimbursement under **My expenses** and **Reimbursements**.                                             |
| **Manager**                              | Approves the expenses of their team as the first step of the approval chain.                                                                               |
| **Cost centre owner**                    | Approves expenses above the organisation's limit or in a currency other than Turkish lira.                                                                 |
| **Finance team**                         | Gives the final expense approval, schedules and confirms reimbursements, keeps budgets, billing, contractors and rate cards, and locks and closes periods. |
| **Project or department lead**           | Reviews budget versus actual and profitability for their scope.                                                                                            |
| **People with the cost-rate permission** | Propose and approve hourly employee cost rates. This is salary information; owners and administrators do not get it automatically.                         |
| **Administrator**                        | Keeps cost centres, number series, expense categories and tax codes under **Settings**.                                                                    |

## Main screens [#main-screens]

| Screen                            | What it shows                                                                                                                                   |
| --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Finance overview**              | **Budget usage**, **Open alerts**, **This month's period**, **Expense approvals waiting** and a **Budget versus actual** table, with shortcuts. |
| **Expenses**                      | Three views: **My expenses**, **Expense approvals** and **Reimbursements**.                                                                     |
| **Budgets**                       | Every budget with scope, basis, amount and status, and a **Budget variance** chart of the largest variances.                                    |
| **Profitability**                 | Cost, expenses, revenue and margin per month, for **Projects** or **Departments**, with **Cost lines** and a **Forecast** per row.              |
| **Billing**                       | Invoices, credit notes and billing plans. **New invoice draft** starts an invoice.                                                              |
| **Contractors**                   | Engagements with hour and amount caps and hourly cost, supplier invoices and matching.                                                          |
| **Rate cards** and **Cost rates** | Billing rates per organisation, customer, project, role, task type or employee, and hourly employee costs.                                      |
| **Periods**                       | Monthly periods per ledger (expenses, sales, purchases, tax, cost) with their status and **Manage**.                                            |
| **Settings**                      | **Cost centres**, **Number series**, **Expense categories** and **Tax codes (VAT)**.                                                            |

<Screenshot src="/screens/en/finance.webp" alt="Finance overview with cards for budget usage, open alerts, this month's period and waiting expense approvals, and a budget versus actual table" caption="Finance overview: budgets, alerts, the current period and waiting approvals." />

## Key tasks [#key-tasks]

### Record an expense [#record-an-expense]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Start the expense [#start-the-expense]

    Choose **New expense** on the **Expenses** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Fill in the details [#fill-in-the-details]

    Enter date, merchant, category, amount, VAT amount and currency (your base currency by default), the merchant's tax number, how you paid and whether it is billable. Save; the expense is a draft you can still edit or delete.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Attach the receipt [#attach-the-receipt]

    Attach a JPEG, PNG, HEIC or PDF file up to 10 MB. If the same receipt was already used, you are warned and asked why when you send it.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Send it for approval [#send-it-for-approval]

    Send the expense. From then on it is read-only and follows the approval chain.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Approve an expense [#approve-an-expense]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Open the queue [#open-the-queue]

    Open **Expenses → Expense approvals**.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Check and decide [#check-and-decide]

    Check the amount, category and receipt, then approve or reject it. Your manager approves first, then the cost centre owner when needed, then finance.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Mermaid
  title="How an expense moves to payment"
  chart="`flowchart LR
A[Draft] --> B[Sent]
B --> C[Manager]
C --> D{Above the limit or not in TRY?}
D -->|Yes| E[Cost centre owner]
D -->|No| F[Finance]
E --> F
F --> G[Approved]
G --> H[Payment scheduled]
H --> I[Paid]`"
/>

### Create a budget [#create-a-budget]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Start the budget [#start-the-budget]

    Choose **New budget** on the **Budgets** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Choose scope and basis [#choose-scope-and-basis]

    Pick a project, department or cost centre, and a basis: hours, cost or revenue. Choose the currency.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Set the amount and overrun rule [#set-the-amount-and-overrun-rule]

    Enter a single total or monthly lines, choose whether an overrun only warns or blocks new commitments, and save with a reason. A change of more than ten percent against the last approved total needs another person's approval.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Screenshot src="/screens/en/finance-budgets.webp" alt="Budgets page with a budget variance bar chart and a table of budgets with scope, basis, amount and status" caption="Budgets: the largest variances as a chart, every budget in the table." />

### Review profitability [#review-profitability]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Pick the view [#pick-the-view]

    Open **Profitability** and choose **Projects** or **Departments**.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Set the months [#set-the-months]

    Choose a **From month** and a **To month** and select **Apply**.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Read the rows [#read-the-rows]

    Each row shows cost, expenses, revenue and margin. A tag marks hours without a cost rate; they are left out of the cost rather than counted as zero. Open **Cost lines** or **Forecast** for more detail.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Screenshot src="/screens/en/finance-profitability.webp" alt="Profitability table by project and month with cost, expenses, revenue and margin, and tags for hours without a cost rate" caption="Profitability: cost, expenses, revenue and margin per project and month." />

### Set an employee cost rate [#set-an-employee-cost-rate]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Propose the rate [#propose-the-rate]

    Open **Rates → Cost rates** and propose an hourly cost for a person and a date range.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Get it approved [#get-it-approved]

    Another person with the cost-rate permission approves it. You cannot approve your own proposal.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Change it later with a new range [#change-it-later-with-a-new-range]

    An approved rate is never edited. Propose a new date range; when it is approved, the previous rate ends on that date.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Close a month [#close-a-month]

<Steps>
  <Step>
    ### Open Periods [#open-periods]

    Open **More → Periods** and find the month of the ledger you want to close.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Lock, then close [#lock-then-close]

    Choose **Manage**. Lock the month temporarily while you check it, and close it once the month has ended. By default a cost or sales period can only close after the matching time period is locked.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    ### Reopen only with a second person [#reopen-only-with-a-second-person]

    A closed month is reopened only when one person asks and another approves. A reopen request lapses after 30 days.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Permissions [#permissions]

* You only see the finance pages you are allowed to open; the sidebar link and the page check the same permission.
* By default organisation owners and administrators can read finance data, except employee cost rates.
* Adding or changing records needs the matching permission, and every save asks for a reason.
* Employee cost rates count as salary information and need a separate permission.
* Contractor accounts only get permissions that are open to external users.
* Nobody approves their own expense, the same person cannot approve two steps in a row, and nobody who approved an expense can schedule or confirm its payment.
* A support session can look at the pages but cannot change anything.

## What the AI can do here [#what-the-ai-can-do-here]

* **No AI in money.** Amounts, rates, taxes, budgets, approvals and periods are handled by fixed rules and by people. The AI never sets an amount or approves anything.
* **Your permissions still apply.** When you use the assistant, it reads only what you could open yourself; it never widens access. See [Skills and assistance](/en/ai) and [What assistance can see](/en/ai/privacy).
* **Staffing with cost in view.** When the assistant suggests people for a task, the factors it shows can include cost; a manager still confirms the choice. See [AI assistant](/en/ai/assistant).

## FAQ [#faq]

<Accordions type="single">
  <Accordion title="Why can I not edit an expense I already sent?">
    After you send an expense for approval it is read-only. Only drafts can be edited or deleted.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="When does the cost centre owner have to approve?">
    When the amount is above the limit your organisation sets (10,000 TRY by default) or the expense is in a currency other than Turkish lira.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why are some hours missing from project cost?">
    Hours without a cost rate are left out of the cost instead of counting as zero. The profitability row shows how many hours have no cost rate.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Who can see employee cost rates?">
    Only people with the separate cost-rate permission. Owners and administrators do not get it automatically.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Which billing rate applies to a piece of work?">
    The most specific rate card line: employee, then task type, role, project, customer and organisation. If two lines tie, no rate is chosen.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I save a record in a closed month?">
    No. A record dated in a closed month, or before the hard-lock date, is not saved. A temporarily locked month accepts records only from people allowed to override the lock.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Finance run payroll?">
    No. Cost rates are for project cost and profitability. Akollo prepares approved time and leave for payroll; see [Payroll](/en/modules/payroll).
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

## Related [#related]

* [Finance](/en/product-guide/finance): every page, status and rule in detail
* [Payroll](/en/modules/payroll): what Akollo hands over to payroll
* [Time and tasks](/en/product-guide/time): where approved time comes from
* [Reports and exports](/en/product-guide/reports): time reports and exports
* [BI datasets](/en/connections/bi-datasets): read agreed figures into a BI tool