Time and Expense Tracking in Tasks with Data Tags
Time and expense tracking falls apart when costs live in Excel spreadsheets and every employee logs working hours their own way. Data tags in Planfix let your team record expenses, working time and key metrics right inside the tasks where the work happens. This two-minute video shows how to set them up without programming, control who sees financial data and use the entries for management reports.
What you’ll learn: how to track time and expenses with data tags
The video has three chapters: why data tags are useful in Planfix (0:00), setting up data tags (0:22) and usage examples (1:21). It covers:
- How to create data tags with custom tracking fields for expenses and labor hours, no code required.
- How to set access rights so confidential financial data is visible only to managers or specific roles.
- How employees fill in data tags directly in the task workspace.
- How scattered information about time, products and services becomes a structured database for automatic reports.
How to set up time and expense tracking in Planfix, step by step
Step 1. Create a data tag for expenses or working time
Only account administrators can create data tags. Open Account management → Data tags, go to a group and click Add data tag in the tools panel. Enter a name, then add fields, each with a name and a type; the types are almost the same as custom field types. A field can also be calculated with a formula, for example, Sum = Amount × Price.
For a ready-made setup, an account owner or administrator can install the Income and Expenses Accounting or Time-Tracking: Working & Leisure Time solution from Account management → Solutions. Both are available on any plan; after installing, fill in the solution’s directories, such as Expenses or Work Type.
Step 2. Restrict access to financial data
In Account management → Data tags, select a tag and open the Data tag permissions tab. Choose which employees and customers can add or view the tag. By default, all employees can add and view data tags, and customers can’t. These rights carry over to reports: an employee without view access to a tag won’t see its lines in any report.
To stop retroactive edits, list the statuses under Restrictions on adding in the tag’s settings and click Save; for example, adding the completed status blocks new or changed entries after the task is done.
Step 3. Log expenses and work hours in the task
Employees usually add data tags to comments, because a tag records an event during the work: click + next to the comment field, choose Data tag, pick the tag and fill in its fields. Each new expense becomes a separate line in the task.
For working time, the built-in Timer from time tracking in Planfix helps; it requires the Time-Tracking solution. Each employee turns it on under Settings → Personal settings → Built-in timer and starts it with the clock icon in the task. When it stops, a data tag window opens for the work type and a comment. Work hours can also be entered by hand with the Actual working time data tag, which is used to calculate hourly wages and compare planned and actual hours.
Step 4. See totals in the task and in reports
A Data tag summary custom field adds up the entries in the task, and reports built from data tag entries show expenses and revenue broken out by project or task. Standard reports include Report: time tracking and, with the Income and Expenses Accounting solution, Report: Income and Expenses.
Expense tracking example: planned budget vs. actual in a task
The Planfix Help Center recommends a simple split for tracking expenses on a task: keep the planned budget in a custom field and record actual expenses as data tags. An “Expenses” field holds one value, while an “Expenses” data tag turns every purchase into its own line, so you see each amount and when it was added, and errors are easy to find. A report then compares the plan with the actual spending.
Who tracks expenses and work hours with data tags
Data tags suit values that build up entry by entry:
- Finance: project costs, salaries, software and operating costs, logged in the task where the money was spent.
- Managers: working time and workload.
- Client accounts: a data tag on a contact to monitor a financial arrangement with a client.
FAQ
Can I import expenses from an Excel spreadsheet?
Yes. The import button on a data tag loads csv, xls or xlsx files and matches rows to tasks or contacts by number or name. Columns whose headers match the tag’s field names are mapped automatically.
How do I track expenses by project in Planfix?
For project expense tracking, record each expense as a data tag in the project’s tasks. The Data tag summary field totals them in each task, and reports break them out by project or task. For project-level profitability, see how to track project profitability with totals fields.
Do data tags replace accounting software?
No. Data tags aren’t meant to replace a full accounting system. They capture expenses, working time and metrics inside tasks for management reporting.
Move one spreadsheet into your tasks
Pick one cost your team still collects in Excel, such as project purchases or labor hours, and create a data tag for it. Then see how custom fields, data tags and reports connect, or read the Help Center article on data tags for field types and imports. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
This video was featured in What’s New in Planfix: June 2026.
