Bill a Customer for Billable Expenses and Time on a NetSuite Invoice

The quick answer

Turn on Bill Costs To Customers under Setup > Company > Enable Features, on the Transactions subtab. After that, any expense, item, or time line that names a customer and has Billable checked waits for that customer's next invoice. A purchase order line waits once the order is billed. Go to Transactions > Sales > Create Invoices and choose the customer. The Items tab now has Billable Items, Billable Expenses, and Billable Time subtabs listing the waiting costs. Check Apply on the lines you want to bill, or click Mark All, then save. The applied costs become ordinary invoice lines, and they won't be offered again on the next invoice.

The screenshots show sample data. Person and company names are fictional. Use your own customer, costs, and values when following the steps.

Before you start

In this example, a field services firm sent Marcus Ellery to a customer's pump station. His expense report, EXP-0418, has a 412.60 hotel stay and a 286.00 flight marked billable to the customer, Cedar Hollow Utilities. It also has a 58.40 team dinner that the firm absorbs. His six hours on site haven't been recorded yet. The goal is to get the hotel, the flight, and the hours onto one invoice without retyping any of them.

The walkthrough uses the Administrator role, bills the customer directly with no project, and has no markup, tax, or foreign currency. You need access to Enable Features and Accounting Preferences for steps 01 and 02. If someone already set those up, you can start at step 03.

Costs from purchases work the same way. On a vendor bill, check, or credit card charge, choose the customer on the line and check Billable. Item lines then wait on the invoice's Billable Items subtab, and expense lines wait on Billable Expenses. A billable line on a purchase order becomes available once the purchase order is billed on a vendor bill. This example doesn't use any purchases, so Billable Items stays at 0.00.

01. Confirm Bill Costs To Customers is on

Go to Setup > Company > Enable Features and open the Transactions subtab. In the Billing group, Bill Costs To Customers should be checked. Its description reads "Bill time, items and expenses to individual customers for reimbursement." If it isn't checked, an administrator checks it and clicks Save.

Billable time also needs Time Tracking, which is on the Employees subtab of the same page. This example bills expenses from an expense report, so Expense Reports is on too. You don't need it if your billable expenses come only from vendor bills, checks, or credit card charges.

Enable Features, Transactions subtab, Billing group. Bill Costs To Customers is checked with the description Bill time, items and expenses to individual customers for reimbursement. Advanced Billing, Charge-Based Billing, Billing Operations, and Invoice Groups are also checked. — Bill Costs To Customers is checked in the Billing group.

02. Check the billable defaults

Go to Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences and open the Time & Expenses subtab. These settings decide whether new lines start out billable and what reaches the invoice.

Under Time Tracking, Copy Service Item Description to Time memo, Time Billable by Default, and Copy Time Memos to Invoices are checked. Require Approvals on Time Records is clear, so time can be invoiced as soon as it's saved. If your account requires approvals, time has to be approved before it shows up on the invoice.

Accounting Preferences, Time and Expenses subtab. Under Time Tracking, Override Rates on Time Records and Require Approvals on Time Records are clear. Copy Service Item Description to Time memo, Time Billable by Default, and Copy Time Memos to Invoices are checked. — Copy Service Item Description to Time memo, Time Billable by Default, and Copy Time Memos to Invoices are checked. Require Approvals on Time Records is clear.

Scroll to Expenses. Expenses Billable by Default, Items Billable by Default, and Copy Expense Memos to Invoices are checked. The defaults only pre-check the Billable box on new lines. People can still change it line by line. You're only reading these settings, so leave the page without saving.

The Expenses group of Accounting Preferences with Expenses Billable by Default, Items Billable by Default, Combine Detail Items on Expense Reports, Copy Expense Memos to Invoices, Show Warning Message for Taxable Expense Lines without Receipt, and Allow Non-Reimbursable Expenses all checked. — Expenses Billable by Default, Items Billable by Default, and Copy Expense Memos to Invoices are checked.

03. Review the billable expenses

Go to Transactions > Employees > Enter Expense Reports > List and open EXP-0418 for Marcus Ellery. On the Expenses subtab, each line has its own Customer and Billable value.

The Hotel line (412.60, memo Hotel, 2 nights) and the Airfare line (286.00, memo Airfare, round trip) name Cedar Hollow Utilities and have Billable set to Yes. The Meals line (58.40) names the same customer but has Billable set to No. Naming a customer isn't enough. A line needs both the customer and Billable, so the meal won't be offered on the invoice.

Expense report EXP-0418 for Marcus Ellery, Expenses Total 757.00. The Expenses subtab lists Hotel 412.60 and Airfare 286.00 for Cedar Hollow Utilities with Billable Yes, and Meals 58.40 for Cedar Hollow Utilities with Billable No. An arrow points to the No. — Hotel and Airfare are billable to Cedar Hollow Utilities. The meal names the customer but its Billable value is No.

04. Record the billable time

Go to Transactions > Employees > Track Time. Choose Marcus Ellery in Employee and set Date to 09/22/2026. Choose Cedar Hollow Utilities in Customer and Site Inspection in Service Item. The service item's description fills Memo because Copy Service Item Description to Time memo is on, and Billable is already checked because Time Billable by Default is on. Type 6:00 in Duration.

Time Tracking entry form with Employee Marcus Ellery, Date 09/22/2026, Duration 6:00, Customer Cedar Hollow Utilities, and Service Item Site Inspection. Billable is checked, with an arrow pointing to it, and Memo reads Field inspection of pump station equipment. — Customer, Service Item, and Duration are filled in. Billable is checked by default.

Click Save. The saved time record shows Duration 6:00, Site Inspection, Billable checked, and the status Unbilled. The hours are now waiting for the customer's next invoice. If your account requires time approvals, the entry also has to be approved first.

Saved Time Tracking record with status Unbilled. Employee Marcus Ellery, Date 09/22/2026, Duration 6:00, Customer Cedar Hollow Utilities, Service Item Site Inspection, Billable checked. — The saved time record is Unbilled and Billable.

05. Open a new invoice for the customer

Go to Transactions > Sales > Create Invoices. The Date is 09/25/2026. Choose Cedar Hollow Utilities in Customer. There are no lines on the invoice yet, so the Summary shows a Total of 0.00.

New invoice with Customer Cedar Hollow Utilities, Date 09/25/2026, and Posting Period Sep 2026. The Summary shows Subtotal 0.00 and Total 0.00. — Before any costs are applied, the invoice Total is 0.00.

Scroll down to the Items tab. It has an inner strip: Items 0.00, Billable Items 0.00, Billable Expenses 0.00, and Billable Time 0.00. Each amount is what you've applied so far, not what's waiting. Here, the dot after Billable Expenses and Billable Time marks the subtabs that have costs listed. Open Billable Expenses. The hotel and airfare from Marcus Ellery's expense report are listed with Apply clear. Original Amount is the cost on the expense report and Bill Amount is what the customer will be charged. They match in this example because there's no markup or tax. The 58.40 meal isn't there.

The invoice Items tab with the Billable Expenses 0.00 subtab open. Two rows dated 09/14/2026 for Marcus Ellery, Hotel and Airfare, with Original Amount and Bill Amount 412.60 and 286.00 and Apply clear. An arrow points to the Mark All button. — Billable Expenses lists the hotel and airfare with Apply clear. The meal isn't offered.

06. Mark the costs to bill

On Billable Expenses, click Mark All. Both lines are applied, and the label changes to Billable Expenses 698.60 (412.60 + 286.00). The invoice Total becomes 698.60.

After Mark All, both expense rows have Apply checked and the subtab label reads Billable Expenses 698.60, with an arrow pointing to it. Billable Time still reads 0.00. — After Mark All, the label reads Billable Expenses 698.60.

Open Billable Time. The 09/22/2026 line shows Marcus Ellery, Site Inspection, Hours 6:00, Rate 145.00, and Amount 870.00. The rate here is the Site Inspection price in this account. Price levels, employee billing classes, the customer, and currency can all change it, so check it before you save.

The Billable Time 0.00 subtab with one row: 09/22/2026, Marcus Ellery, Site Inspection, Hours 6:00, Rate 145.00, Amount 870.00, Apply clear. — The time line shows 6:00 hours at 145.00, an amount of 870.00, with Apply clear.

Check Apply on that line. You could also click Mark All here, but checking lines one at a time is how you bill some costs now and leave the rest for a later invoice. The label changes to Billable Time 870.00.

The time row has Apply checked and the subtab label reads Billable Time 870.00, with an arrow pointing to it. Billable Expenses reads 698.60. — With Apply checked, the label reads Billable Time 870.00.

Scroll back up to the Summary. Total is now 1,568.60: 698.60 of expenses plus 870.00 of time.

The unsaved invoice for Cedar Hollow Utilities with Subtotal 1,568.60 and Total 1,568.60 in the Summary. — Before saving, the invoice Total is 1,568.60.

07. Save the invoice and check its lines

Click Save. INV-3107 opens with status Open, Total 1,568.60, and Amount Due 1,568.60.

Saved invoice INV-3107 for Cedar Hollow Utilities, status Open, dated 09/25/2026. The Summary shows Subtotal 1,568.60, Tax Total 0.00, Total 1,568.60, and Amount Due 1,568.60. — INV-3107 is saved with Total and Amount Due of 1,568.60.

The saved invoice view doesn't show the billable subtabs. The applied costs are now lines on the Items sublist. Because Copy Expense Memos to Invoices is on, the hotel and airfare use their expense memos as descriptions, and the time shows its service item, Site Inspection, with quantity 6 and rate 145.00. Invoicing preferences can combine lines, so your line count may differ.

Saved invoice for Cedar Hollow Utilities with Total and Amount Due 1,568.60. The Items sublist lists Hotel, 2 nights 412.60, Airfare, round trip 286.00, and Site Inspection with quantity 6, rate 145.00, and amount 870.00. — The saved invoice lists the hotel, the airfare, and 6 hours of Site Inspection for a total of 1,568.60.

Check the result

INV-3107 for Cedar Hollow Utilities has Total and Amount Due of 1,568.60.
The Items sublist has Hotel, 2 nights for 412.60 and Airfare, round trip for 286.00.
Site Inspection is on the invoice with quantity 6, rate 145.00, and amount 870.00.
The 58.40 meal isn't on the invoice.

08. Confirm nothing is left to bill

Go to Transactions > Sales > Create Invoices again and choose Cedar Hollow Utilities. Billable Expenses and Billable Time show 0.00 with no dot, and the grids say No records to show. The hotel, airfare, and hours were billed on INV-3107, so they aren't offered again. Leave this invoice without saving.

A new invoice for the same customer. The strip reads Items 0.00, Billable Items 0.00, Billable Expenses 0.00, and Billable Time 0.00, and the Billable Expenses grid says No records to show. — On the next invoice, Billable Expenses and Billable Time are empty.

Common questions

Why don't I see the Billable Expenses or Billable Time subtabs on my invoice?

Check that Bill Costs To Customers is on under Setup > Company > Enable Features, on the Transactions subtab. Billable time also needs Time Tracking. If the subtabs are there but empty, the costs don't match this invoice. Each cost needs the same customer, Billable checked, and it can't already be billed on another invoice. Your invoice form and role can also affect what you see.

Why is an expense from my expense report missing from the invoice?

The expense line needs the customer in its Customer column and Billable set to Yes. In the example, the 58.40 meal named the right customer but wasn't billable, so the invoice never offered it. If the line looks right, check whether it was already billed on an earlier invoice for that customer.

How do I bill only some of a customer's costs and leave the rest for later?

Check Apply only on the lines you want to bill now, instead of clicking Mark All. When you save, the applied lines are billed. The lines you left unmarked stay on the billable subtabs and show up again on the customer's next invoice.

What's the difference between Original Amount and Bill Amount?

Original Amount is the cost recorded on the source transaction, like the 412.60 hotel on the expense report. Bill Amount is what the customer is charged for that line. They're equal unless you apply a markup or discount with the Discount/Markup field or change the amount yourself. The markup changes the charge, not the recorded cost.

Where does the rate on the Billable Time subtab come from?

It comes from the pricing for the time entry's service item. In the example, Site Inspection priced at 145.00, so 6 hours came to 870.00. Price levels, employee billing classes, the customer, currency, and the invoice date can all change the rate, and Override Rates on Time Records lets people enter a rate on the time entry. Check the rate on the subtab before you save.

Does time need to be approved before it can be invoiced?

Only if your account requires it. In the example, Require Approvals on Time Records is clear, so the saved time entry went straight to Unbilled and showed up on the invoice. With approvals required, a time entry isn't offered on the invoice until it's approved, even if it's marked Billable.