Cost Tracking is the process of recording and monitoring the actual costs or expenses associated with your assets, equipment, tools, machinery, projects, orders – basically, anything your business uses. This allows you to see the true costs (typically labor, materials, and outsourced services) and their amounts related to each item. It commonly involves the maintenance of machines, tools, buildings, or project-specific costs. Cost tracking helps you stay on budget.
- A process where you record your actual expenses for a specific item or activity.
- Then, you compare these actual costs to your planned budget.
How Does Cost Tracking Work?
1. Set a Budget
- Before you start tracking costs, determine how much money you can or want to spend on a specific item or project.
- This is your budget (e.g., project budget, budget for maintaining a specific asset, or marketing campaign budget).
2. Enter & Log Expenses
- Systematically log every expense.
- Track these expenses in the "Costs and Consumption" tab (or similar section of your accounting software).
- Categorize costs based on your needs, typically into three basic types: labor, materials, and contracted services.
3. Monitor Actuals vs. Budget
- Once you record an expense, you have a real-time overview of budget performance.
- The difference between your planned spending and actual expenses is called a variance.
Cost Tracking Examples
Cost Tracking for Assets and Equipment
- Tracking costs for assets means keeping records of all actual expenses associated with your equipment.
- Typically, this includes maintenance, repairs, parts, or inspections.
- In Aptien, you can assign each cost item to a specific asset. This allows you to see how much each piece of equipment actually costs you and make better decisions about when to repair it and when to replace it.
Cost Tracking for Projects
- Tracking project costs records actual expenses related to projects – labor, subcontracts, travel, or materials.
- Record the actual costs of personnel, materials, and equipment, and compare them to the planned budget.
- In Aptien, you can assign these costs directly to each project and have a constant overview of your spending and where it's going.
- This helps you stay on track with the project budget and make smart financial decisions.
How to Plan Expenses (BETA Feature)
- Check out our detailed guide on how to budget or plan expenses for a specific asset, property, or project. (BETA)
How to Record Costs (BETA Feature)
- See our detailed guide on how to track the actual costs of a specific asset, property, or project.