When you add tax or markup to an expense in Bonsai, three different amount values come into play. Understanding how each is used across the product will help you accurately track costs, revenue, and profitability.
The three expense amount types
After-Tax amount (Blue)
This is the total amount you actually paid for the expense, including any applicable taxes. It's what you enter in the "Amount" field when creating an expense.
Formula: After-tax amount = Pre-tax amount × (1 + Tax rate)
Pre-Tax amount (Red)
This is the cost of the expense before taxes are applied. It represents your true business expense, since taxes are typically reclaimable and shouldn't be counted as a cost.
Formula: Pre-tax amount = After-tax amount ÷ (1 + Tax rate)
Sales Price (Green)
This is the amount you'll charge your client for a billable expense. It includes any markup you've added to the pre-tax amount.
Formula: Sales price = Pre-tax amount × (1 + Markup %)
How expense amounts appear throughout Bonsai
Expenses list
Shows the after-tax amount — this reflects the full amount you actually paid out of pocket.
Bookkeeping overview
Expenses total: Uses after-tax amount to show what you've spent
Paid Before Fees: Uses sales price for billable expenses to show revenue received
Profit & Loss report
Expense categories: Uses pre-tax amount following accounting best practices (tax excluded as an expense)
Earnings & Sales Revenue: Uses sales price to match invoiced amounts
Invoices
Expense line items show the sales price — this is what your client will be charged (includes markup, excludes tax).
When selecting expenses to add to an invoice, the amount displayed is also the sales price.
Project budget settings
Under Billable Expenses, shows pre-tax amount — this reflects your internal spend toward the budget, not what you'll bill.
Project finances panel
Billable Total: Uses sales price (what the client should be billed)
Billed/Unbilled: Uses sales price to track invoice-level data
Total Costs: Uses pre-tax amount (your actual business cost)
Billable Expenses: Uses pre-tax amount (affects your internal margin calculation)
Total Revenue: Uses sales price (revenue includes markup but excludes tax)
Project Profitability Report
Total Revenue: Uses sales price reflecting actual invoiced value
Expenses and Total Cost: Use pre-tax amount to keep tax out of profitability metrics
Client Profitability Report
Billable Total: Uses sales price (revenue from client's perspective)
Expenses and Total Cost: Use pre-tax amount for accurate margin calculations
Example
Let's say you paid $200 for travel with 13% GST and want to add a 20% markup when billing your client:
After-tax amount: $200.00 (what you see in your Expenses list)
Tax: 13% GST = $23.01
Pre-tax amount: $176.99 (used in P&L and cost calculations)
Markup: 20% = $35.40
Sales price: $212.39 (what appears on the invoice to your client)