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Machine Expenses

Asset expenses — including depreciation, fuel, maintenance, repairs, and insurance — need to be tracked and allocated across multiple jobs simultaneously. JobNext uses percentage allocation to distribute these costs automatically, ensuring each job bears its fair share of the machine’s operating costs.

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Machine Expense Distribution Workflow EXPENSE SOURCES Depreciation Periodic run Fuel & Consumables Material Issue (MC) Maintenance Repairs & servicing Insurance Premium allocation Other Costs Hire, tolls, permits Total Machine Expense All costs aggregated per machine • linked via Party record in Finance Apply Percentage Allocation Active rows must total 100% Job A — 50% Job B — 30% Job C — 20%
Machine expenses upload interface showing cost entry fields and job allocation columns
Machine expenses interface with cost entry and job allocation

How Expense Distribution Works

When a cost is incurred against a machine (depreciation run, fuel issue, maintenance bill, etc.), JobNext checks the machine's percentage allocation to determine how the cost should be split across jobs:

  1. Expense is recorded — A cost is posted against the machine (via voucher, material issue, or depreciation run)
  2. System identifies the machine — The machine’s party record links the financial transaction to the asset
  3. Percentage allocation is read — Only active allocation rows are considered; they must total exactly 100%
  4. Costs are distributed — The expense amount is split proportionally across the allocated jobs
  5. Ledger entries are posted — Each job receives its share of the expense as a debit entry
Machine as Accounting Party

Each machine in JobNext has a corresponding Party record in the Finance module. This party is created automatically during capitalization (Capital MRN). All financial transactions — depreciation, expenses, disposal — reference this party, enabling complete cost tracking per asset.

Types of Machine Expenses

Expense Type How It Enters the System Distribution Method
Depreciation Periodic depreciation run (Equipment > Depreciation) Auto-distributed via percentage allocation
Fuel & Consumables Material Issue with Issue Type = Machine Consumables Charged to the issuing job; can be redistributed via allocation
Maintenance & Repairs Work Order or direct voucher posting Auto-distributed via percentage allocation
Insurance Journal voucher against machine party Auto-distributed via percentage allocation
Hire Charges Work Order billing for hired equipment Charged to the hiring job directly
Operating Costs Tolls, permits, registration — voucher entry Auto-distributed via percentage allocation

Setting Up Percentage Allocation

Before expenses can be distributed, you must configure the percentage allocation for each machine:

  1. Navigate to Equipment > Allocations
  2. Select the machine and open the Percentage Allocation tab
  3. Add rows for each job that should bear a share of the machine’s costs
  4. Enter the percentage for each job (e.g., Job A: 60%, Job B: 40%)
  5. Ensure all active rows sum to exactly 100%
  6. Save the allocation
100% Rule

The system enforces that all active percentage allocation rows must total exactly 100%. If you deactivate a row, the remaining active rows must still sum to 100%. Failing this validation will prevent expense distribution from processing correctly.

Percentage Allocation vs. Direct Allocation

Aspect Direct Allocation Percentage Allocation
Purpose Tracks physical location of the machine Distributes operating costs across jobs
Concurrency One active allocation at a time Multiple jobs simultaneously
Affects Where the machine can be utilized How expenses are charged to jobs
Independence These operate independently — a machine can be physically at Job A but have costs split 60/40 between Job A and Job B

Expense Upload

For bulk expense recording, JobNext supports uploading machine expenses via Excel:

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  1. Navigate to Equipment > Machines
  2. Use the Upload Machine Expenses option from the actions menu
  3. Download the template Excel file
  4. Fill in machine codes, expense types, amounts, and dates
  5. Upload the completed file
  6. Review the validation results and confirm

Viewing Expense History

To view all expenses recorded against a machine:

  1. Navigate to Equipment > Machines
  2. Click on the machine to open its detail view
  3. Scroll to the Expenses or Cost Summary section
  4. Filter by date range, expense type, or job to narrow results

The cost summary shows total expenses broken down by type and job allocation, helping project managers understand the true cost of operating each asset.

Impact on Project Costing

Machine expenses directly affect project cost reports:

  • Job Cost Curves — Machine costs appear as a separate line item in project cost analysis
  • Budget vs Actual — Compares estimated equipment costs (from job estimates with resource type “E”) against actual expenses
  • Cost Allocation Reports — Shows how each machine’s costs are distributed across jobs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the percentage allocation retroactively?

Changing the allocation affects future expense distributions only. Previously posted expenses retain their original distribution. If you need to correct past allocations, you would need to create adjustment vouchers.

What happens if percentage allocation doesn’t add up to 100%?

The system will flag this as a validation error. Expense distribution will not process correctly until the active allocation rows total exactly 100%. Check for inactive rows that may need to be reactivated or adjusted.

How are hired machine expenses handled?

Hired machines (not owned assets) are tracked through Work Orders. Their costs are charged directly to the hiring job and do not go through percentage allocation, since the hire charge is inherently job-specific.