How much did we spend on freelancers across every chapter?

Label the lines, then read each label's total in the Labels block of Smart Subtotals. For the client, add a Group by Labels block to the Offer Document, which sets the same total out as a table.

Labels cut across your chapters, so one label gathers every freelancer line from camera, art and post into one number.

Set up the labels

Labels are set up under Settings, in Labels. They belong to the workspace, so every budget draws on the same list.

1. Click Create Label and name it, for example Freelancer, then choose a colour.

2. To report on a pair like Freelancer and Staff, click Add Label Group and put both labels in the group. A Cost Item carries one label from each group, so each line is one or the other.

3. In the budget, click Add Label at the bottom-left of each Cost Item and pick the label. You can also type a new name there and press Enter.

Read the total for each label

1. Open the sidebar Sections tab, then the Smart Subtotals sub-tab.

2. Open the Labels block: Sums of used Labels in this Budget.

3. Each row shows one label with its colour dot, its name, its share of the budget total and its sum in the budget currency. Labels in a group are nested under a row that sums them.

A label appears here as soon as a line carrying it has a cost, and the block updates as the budget changes.

Give the client the breakdown

1. In the Offer Document, open the Insert tab and, under Budget Blocks, add Group by Labels.

2. Select the block, open its settings, and choose a Label Group under Group by.

3. Each label in that group becomes a column. Lines that carry no label from the group fall into a dashed column named No Group, so the table adds up to the full budget.

The table is live, so it follows the budget as costs change.

Good to know

• The block works from Label Groups, so group the labels you plan to report on.

• Removing a label from a Cost Item takes it off that line and leaves the label in your workspace for the next line.

• A label total is expressed in the budget currency, so a budget with foreign-currency lines gives you one comparable number.

Related

• The client's cost controller wants the composition, not just totals

• I'm adding people to the workspace. Who should be an Editor and who an Admin?