Cost Control
You can book a cost against an account without waiting for accounting to post it.
Accounting posts what has been invoiced. A producer knows about commitments long before that — a quote accepted this morning, a deal closed on the phone. Booking those by hand is what keeps Expected current between imports.
The **Cost Items** panel sits under the account.
Click **Cost Item**. It arrives as *New Cost Item*.
| Field | What to put | | --------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | **Date** | the entry date | | **Description** | the booking text — what this is | | **Reference** | the accounting reference, if there is one yet | | **Expected** | the amount, **net** if you are subject to VAT |
Leave **Paid** and **Pay Date** empty. An item with no paid amount counts towards Expected, which is exactly right for a commitment that has not been settled.
It decides whether the item counts inside the account's value or on top of it. The default is usually what you want, but it changes the account's total, so know which you have chosen — see [include or add a cost item](/kb/article/include-or-add-a-cost-item).
The accounting import matches incoming lines against existing items on reference, text, amount and payment date. A hand-booked item carrying the same reference accounting will use is one the import recognises instead of duplicating.
Without a reference you are likely to end up with the commitment and the invoice as two separate items on the account, both counting — see [re-import a period](/kb/article/re-import-a-period).
**What happens when the invoice arrives.** Nothing automatic. Either the import matches your item, or you settle it yourself by entering the paid amount and pay date — see [mark a cost item as paid](/kb/article/mark-a-cost-item-as-paid).
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