QuickBooks Online Projects tracks job costs, but most businesses turn it on without knowing if it actually fits their workflow. You set up a project, assign expenses, and realize your business model does not work that way. Service businesses track billable hours.
Product-based businesses track SKU costs across orders. Ecommerce sellers need channel-level profitability, not project-based tracking. The Projects feature works brilliantly for some business types and creates confusion for others.
In this guide, you will learn how QuickBooks Online Projects works, which business models benefit most and how to set up projects correctly for your industry.
Without project tracking, margin leaks and cost overruns often go unnoticed until it is too late to act.
For example, a retailer discovered $8,000 in lost margin only after finally tracking project-level costs. The loss was not obvious in the overall revenue numbers, but project tracking revealed the true source.
Multi-channel sellers are especially prone to blind spots due to fragmented data across platforms. Without real-time project profitability tracking, businesses risk missing critical insights that drive smarter decisions.
But many businesses still struggle to get these insights. Here is why.
Without project tracking, each business type faces unique, costly blind spots.
A contractor lost $3,000 on a bathroom remodel due to late cost tracking. By the time the overrun was found, there was no way to adjust pricing or scope.
A marketing firm running 30 campaigns across 15 clients realized their largest client was actually the least profitable. This was only discovered after six months of work, making it too late to renegotiate or reallocate resources.
An ecommerce brand selling on Shopify, Amazon, and eBay spent 20 hours each week tagging orders to the right project. At 1,000 orders per month, manual assignment became impossible, and channel profitability stayed hidden.
For businesses, manually assigning every order to the right project is time-consuming and error-prone. QuickBooks ecommerce automation can help eliminate these bottlenecks as you scale.
Let us see which businesses get the most value from QuickBooks Online Projects.
QuickBooks Online Projects is essential for businesses with complex, project-based or channel-based operations, especially as volume grows. Here are five scenarios where project tracking transforms outcomes.
Construction firms manage multiple job sites, each with unique material and labor costs. Without project tracking, expenses are posted to general accounts, making it impossible to see which jobs are profitable in real time.
Example: A contractor manages three simultaneous renovation projects. Project A costs $45,000 in materials and labor, but was only billed $42,000, losing $3,000. The loss stays hidden in overall revenue until year-end, when it is too late to adjust pricing or scope.
Agencies billing multiple clients need to track campaign profitability across overlapping projects. Without project-level reporting, it is difficult to see which clients are profitable.
Example: An agency runs campaigns for five clients simultaneously. Client B's social media campaign consumed 80 hours of staff time at $100/hour but was billed at a flat $5,000 rate, resulting in a $3,000 loss. The agency only discovers which clients drain profitability after manually reviewing timesheets during month-end close.
Consultants juggle engagements with different billing models: hourly, retainer, and fixed-fee. Time tracking alone does not reveal profitability, especially when projects run over estimates.
Example: A consultant accepts a $15,000 fixed-fee engagement estimated at 100 hours. The project takes 180 hours, reducing the effective rate from $150/hour to $83/hour. Comparing total hours against total revenue manually is the only way to spot underpriced engagements.
Event-driven non-profits need to track expenses and net proceeds per fundraiser. Without project tracking, it is impossible to compare event profitability.
Example: A non-profit hosts three fundraising events: a gala, a 5K run, and an auction. The gala grossed $50,000 but cost $35,000 in venue and catering, netting $15,000. The 5K grossed $20,000 with only $3,000 in costs, netting $17,000.
Lumped-together accounting hides which events deliver the highest return on investment.
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Retailers selling across multiple platforms lose channel profitability in aggregated reporting. Manual assignment works at low volume, but as order counts grow, it becomes unsustainable.
Example: A seller processes 500 orders monthly across Shopify, Amazon, and Etsy. Shopify orders average $80 with 8% fees. Amazon orders average $45 with 15% fees plus fulfillment costs. Blended reporting shows healthy revenue while Amazon quietly loses money after fees despite higher order volume.
If you recognize your business in any of these scenarios, here is how to get started.
Getting started with Projects is straightforward. Follow these steps to ensure every project is tracked from day one.
Go to Account & Settings, select Advanced, and turn on the Projects feature. Projects will now appear as a menu item. This feature is available in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced plans.
QuickBooks Online Projects
Click Projects, then New Project. Name each project clearly, such as “Shopify Q2 2024” or “Smith Kitchen Remodel.”
Select the customer or sales channel for each project. For multi-channel sellers, create a project for each platform (e.g., Shopify, Amazon, eBay).
For high-volume businesses, accounting automation platforms can assign channel orders to projects automatically. With QuickBooks Online Projects enabled, you are ready to link every transaction for true profitability insight.
Every dollar must be assigned: linking invoices, expenses, and time entries ensures nothing falls through the cracks.
How to assign transactions:
|
Transaction type |
Assignment method |
|
Invoices/Sales receipts |
Select project in Customer/Project field |
|
Bills/expenses |
Assign project in expense entry |
|
Time entries |
Use QuickBooks Time or manual entry, select project |
|
Refunds/credits |
Link credit memo to project |
Table 1: Transactions in QuickBooks Online Projects
For example, if a bill for materials is not assigned to the correct project, the cost will not appear in project reports, leading to inaccurate profitability data. Similarly, unassigned time entries can cause labor overruns to go unnoticed.
As order volume grows, automation tools can sync sales and related expenses from each channel directly to the right project, reducing manual entry.
But as order volume grows, manual assignment becomes a bottleneck. Here is how to connect Projects to your sales data at scale.
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Manual order-to-project assignment works for small businesses, but automation is essential as you scale.
A small retailer may manually assign 50 orders per month to projects. However, a retailer with 1,000 orders per month cannot assign each order by hand. The time and error risk increase rapidly.
For example, an agency with 50 projects can tag each invoice, but a retailer with 1,000 orders per month needs automation to keep up.
Platforms like Webgility integrate with QuickBooks and your sales channels, automatically syncing orders and assigning them to the correct project. This eliminates repetitive data entry and reduces errors.
Suggested read: A Beginner’s Guide to Multi-channel Ecommerce Accounting
Consistent, real-time monitoring catches margin leaks before they become costly mistakes.
Weekly or milestone-based review routines:
Key metrics to monitor:
With real-time data from all channels, you can monitor project health without waiting for end-of-month reports.
To make the best decisions, you need to unlock insights from your project reports.
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Project profitability reports reveal hidden winners and losers, driving smarter resource allocation.
QuickBooks Online Projects offers several standard reports:
For example, if Project A shows negative margin due to unassigned expenses, you can quickly investigate and correct the issue. These insights help you reallocate resources, adjust pricing, and focus on the most profitable work.
Webgility users report closing books 3x faster and spotting margin gaps as they happen, not after the fact.
For advanced users and high-volume businesses, integrating time tracking and ecommerce automation unlocks even more efficiency.
Webgility eliminates manual entry and error risk, enabling ecommerce businesses to scale project tracking effortlessly.
It automatically assigns orders to channels or projects in real time, eliminating the need for manual categorization. Orders from Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces sync directly to QuickBooks with channel-specific fee mapping, tax breakdowns, and payment reconciliation.
This means you see true profitability by channel without building custom reports or exporting CSV files.
Key capabilities for project-based tracking:
PartyMachines, a party supplies seller on Amazon and QuickBooks, used to spend 2-3 weeks manually entering data each month. The founder had no visibility into which products or channels drove profitability.
After implementing Webgility, they recovered 8-16 hours monthly and gained access to real-time reporting that showed order volume, average order size, and channel and SKU-specific performance.
The dashboard enabled them to compare customer buying behavior across sales channels and make data-driven decisions about inventory allocation and pricing strategy that were previously impossible with manual entry.
Ready to take control of your project profitability? Book a demo with Webgility today.
QuickBooks Online Projects lets you track sales and expenses by channel, so you can see which platforms are most profitable. Automation tools can assign orders from each channel to the right project, reducing manual work and errors.
Yes, with integration platforms like Webgility, orders from Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and other channels can be automatically assigned to the correct project in QuickBooks Online, saving time and ensuring accuracy.
Unassigned transactions will not be included in project profitability reports, which can lead to inaccurate data. Regularly review your transactions to ensure everything is properly assigned.
Yes, nonprofits can track fundraising events, and agencies can monitor client campaigns, making it easier to compare profitability and make data-driven decisions.