Expenses
Track every cost of running your drone operation — from equipment purchases to software subscriptions. Expenses are organization-level, so your whole team works from a single source of truth. Expense data feeds directly into Profitability calculations.Creating an expense
Navigate to Expenses and click New Expense. Fill in the details:| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | What the expense is for |
| Amount | Cost in USD |
| Category | One of 16 predefined categories (see below) |
| Date | When the expense occurred |
| Recurring | Whether this expense repeats on a schedule |
Expense categories
Every expense is assigned to one of 16 categories. These categories determine how the expense is classified in Profitability calculations — as overhead, equipment, or excluded.| Category | Examples | Profitability class |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Drones, cameras, accessories | Equipment |
| Maintenance | Repairs, servicing, component replacement | Equipment |
| Supplies | Batteries, props, cases, consumables | Equipment |
| Software | Subscriptions, apps, tools | Overhead |
| Insurance | Drone insurance, liability, hull | Overhead |
| Accounting | Bookkeeping, tax prep, professional services | Overhead |
| Marketing | Ads, website, branding, SEO | Overhead |
| Licenses | Part 107, business licenses | Overhead |
| Facilities | Office rent, storage, utilities | Overhead |
| Training | FAA courses, workshops, certification | Overhead |
| Permits | Airspace authorizations, special waivers | Overhead |
| Data & Storage | Cloud storage, processing platforms, backups | Overhead |
| Overhead | General overhead costs | Overhead |
| Travel | Mileage, fuel, accommodation | Excluded |
| Labor | Subcontractors, assistants, crew | Excluded |
| Other | Miscellaneous expenses | Excluded |
Excluded categories (Travel, Labor, Other) are tracked for your records but are not included in automated profitability overhead or equipment calculations. Travel costs are handled separately in the profitability calculator via mileage rates.
Recurring expenses
For costs that repeat on a regular schedule, mark the expense as recurring and select a period:| Period | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Monthly | Every month |
| Quarterly | Every 3 months |
| Yearly | Once per year |
How recurring expenses affect profitability
The Profitability module normalizes recurring expenses to calculate their contribution to any given project. For example, a 100/month — so a 2-week project would be allocated approximately $50 of that cost.Managing expenses
Editing
Click any expense in the list to edit its details. All fields are editable.Deleting
Delete individual expenses from the expense detail view or use bulk delete to remove multiple expenses at once. Select expenses using the checkboxes in the list view, then click Delete Selected.Filtering
The expenses list supports filtering to help you find what you need:- Filter by category to see all expenses of a specific type
- Filter by date range to focus on a time period
- Sort by amount, date, or category
Expenses and profitability
Expenses are a key input to the Profitability module. Here is how they connect:Expenses are aggregated
The profitability engine pulls all expenses for the current year and classifies them as overhead or equipment costs.
Overhead percentage is calculated
Total overhead expenses are divided by your annual revenue (from Proposals and deals) to determine your actual overhead percentage.
Per-project costs are allocated
When you run a profitability analysis on a Project, overhead and equipment costs are allocated proportionally based on your real expense data.
Tips
Log expenses consistently for accurate profitability
Log expenses consistently for accurate profitability
The Profitability module can use estimated percentages or actual expense data. The more complete your expense tracking, the more accurate your per-project profit analysis becomes.
Use recurring for fixed costs
Use recurring for fixed costs
Insurance, software subscriptions, and facility costs are usually fixed. Mark them as recurring so you only enter them once, and the system handles normalization for profitability calculations.
Choose categories carefully
Choose categories carefully
The category you assign determines whether an expense counts as overhead or equipment cost in profitability analysis. A misclassified expense can skew your margins.
Review expenses before year-end
Review expenses before year-end
Since profitability calculations aggregate expenses by year, take time to review and clean up your expense data periodically for the most accurate analysis.