Disbursements Overview

Disbursements are used to record out-of-pocket costs or expenses that a practice incurs while working on a client's job. These can include items such as filing fees, travel costs, or courier charges. Recording disbursements in FYI helps ensure that all billable costs are accurately tracked and included when creating client invoices.

Using Disbursements

User Permissions

Access to Disbursements is available to FYI Admins, and users assigned to a User Group with the following permissions enabled:

Creating Disbursements

Disbursements can be created manually as required, or automatically by an Automation Process using the Create Disbursement step.

To manually create a disbursement, Users will need to click the + button and choose Disbursement. Each entry includes details such as the client, job, description, and amount. These entries are then displayed alongside time entries in the Disbursements list.

If creating a disbursement from a Client or Job workspace, these fields will be automatically selected in the Create Disbursement drawer.

Refer to Creating Disbursements for detailed instructions.

Displaying and Updating Disbursements

Disbursements can be viewed from the Time Lists, available in:

• Practice Time (note that separate permissions apply)
• Client - Time tab
• Job - Time tab

Filter the Type column to view Disbursements only. Click on a disbursement to display the Update Disbursement drawer. 

Disbursements can be edited for "Draft" and "Submitted" entries, but cannot be edited when: 

• The Disbursement has been added to a client invoice and has the status of "Invoiced".
• The Disbursement has been invoiced, synchronised to Xero and has the status of "Locked".
• The Disbursement is for a date before the selected Period Lock Date, selected in the practice's Invoice Settings.

The Automation Process Step, Update Time/Disbursement, can also be used to automatically update Disbursements, for example, to automatically submit draft Disbursements, or update the Custom Fields for reporting purposes.

Refer to Displaying and Updating Time and Disbursements.

Bulk Updates

Practices can update multiple disbursements simultaneously using the Bulk Update function. This allows users to quickly apply consistent changes, such as adjusting the job, date, or category for several entries at once.

When bulk updating time and disbursement entries:

• Disbursements that have already been locked or invoiced to the client cannot be updated or deleted.
• When using Bulk Update to delete disbursements, Draft and In Progress disbursements will be permanently deleted. Submitted disbursements are soft-deleted and can be restored. Refer to Deleting Time and Disbursement Entries.
• Only an FYI Admin will be able to perform a Bulk Update where the Time falls within a date period that has been locked, including deleted time entries. Refer to Managing Invoices Settings.

Refer to Time and Disbursements Bulk Update.

Deleting and Restoring Disbursement Entries

Disbursements can be deleted if created by mistake, however please note that the Status and Type of Time entry will determine whether the entry can be soft-deleted and restored, or permanently deleted.

• Soft-deleted - applies to Submitted Disbursements, and can be restored if required. 
• Permanently deleted - applies to Draft Disbursements, and cannot be restored.

Refer to Deleting Time and Disbursement Entries for more information.

Soft-deleted Disbursements can be restored from the Time List by selecting Unhide Deleted Timesheets. Tick one or more Disbursements, and select Restore. Refer to Restoring Deleted Time and Disbursement Entries

Reallocating Disbursements

Draft and Submitted Disbursements can be reallocated to a different job if they were created against the wrong one. This ensures accurate cost tracking and reporting across all client jobs.

Disbursements can be reallocated by:

• Editing an individual Disbursement using the drawer.
• In bulk from a Time list.
• When creating an invoice. 

Refer to Reallocating Time and Disbursements to another Job.

Invoicing Disbursements

Disbursements can be included when creating invoices in FYI, allowing practices to bill clients for both time and associated costs. Invoices can be created manually, allowing practices to invoice clients as required, or automatically, using the Create Invoice Automation Process step.

• When generating a Progress, Final or Disbursement invoice, eligible disbursements can be selected to appear on the invoice. 
• The Disbursement Invoice type allows practices to invoice Disbursements only, for when billing clients for costs only.
• When creating an invoice, the Layout can be changed to either Summary or Detailed, depending on the level of information to be included for the client. The Detailed option will itemise each Disbursement on individual lines.
  
  Note: Invoice lines will display 0-value on the invoice PDF, even when the disbursement is included when selecting the Summary Layout option.
  
  To prevent the 0-value disbursement line from appearing on the invoice PDF, the invoice should be unlocked and the 0-value line entry deselected. The invoice can be saved and when the invoice has synced to Xero, the 0-value line will be removed.