> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://usepike.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Profitability
> How Pike calculates earnings, cost, and profit across workspace and project finance views.
Profitability shows whether work is earning more than it costs. Pike compares **earnings** (revenue) against **cost** (labor, overhead, and certain expenses) and reports **profit** as the difference.
Available to **admins, managers, and finance** users.
## Where to find it
| Location | Scope |
| ---------------------- | --------------- |
| **Finance → Overview** | Whole workspace |
| **Project → Finance** | Single project |
Both surfaces show earnings, cost, profit, and a cumulative chart. The workspace overview also includes billed/unbilled time stats and a monthly financial chart.
For project-level charts and toggles, see [Project finance](/project/project-finance).
## The core formula
For every period (grouped by month):
```
profit = earnings − cost
```
Totals at the top of the card are the sum of all monthly data points in the selected range.
Each data point contains:
| Field | Meaning |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------- |
| **Earnings** | Revenue attributed to that month |
| **Cost** | Internal cost attributed to that month |
| **Profit** | Earnings minus cost |
## Three profitability modes
Pike calculates profitability in three ways. Two are **actual** (based on logged work or invoices). One is **planned** (based on future allocations).
### 1. Actual — Billable time
**Revenue calculation method: Billable time**
Earnings come from **completed time entries** on billable work:
```
earnings = hours logged × billable rate on the task assignment
```
* Only time entries with an **end time** (completed entries) are included.
* The billable rate is the **rate on the member's task assignment** (`userTask.rate`), not the invoice rate.
* Revenue is grouped by the **month the time entry started**.
Cost for the same entries:
```
cost = hours logged × (employment hourly cost + hourly overhead)
```
This mode answers: *"Based on time we tracked and the rates on those tasks, how profitable was the work?"*
### 2. Actual — Revenue booked
**Revenue calculation method: Revenue booked**
Earnings come from **invoices**:
```
earnings = invoice total × exchange rate
```
* Revenue is grouped by the invoice **due date** month.
* Invoice line items and tax/discount handling follow standard invoice total calculation.
Cost still comes from **time entries** in the filtered scope (same labor + overhead formula as billable time), plus qualifying **expenses** (see below). Time entry cost is grouped by the month the entry **started**.
This mode answers: *"Based on what we invoiced and what the work cost us, how profitable was the period?"*
### 3. Planned
**Planned profitability** (shown as a comparison line on the cumulative chart) comes from **resource allocations** — scheduled hours on tasks:
```
planned earnings = allocated hours × task assignment rate
planned cost = allocated hours × (employment hourly cost + hourly overhead)
```
* Allocations are clipped to calendar month boundaries.
* Hours per day come from the allocation's weekday schedule (Monday–Sunday minutes).
* Only allocations whose date range overlaps the filter are included.
This mode answers: *"If we deliver what is currently planned on the schedule, what profitability should we expect?"*
## How cost is built
Total **cost** per month is:
```
cost = labor cost + overhead + qualifying expenses
```
### Labor cost (employment contract)
For each hour of work (logged or planned), Pike looks up the member's **employment contract** and derives an hourly employment cost from:
| Contract frequency | Hourly employment cost |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Hour | Cost amount directly |
| Week | Cost amount ÷ hours per week |
| Biweek | Cost amount ÷ (hours per week × 2) |
| Month | Cost amount ÷ monthly working hours from contract |
| Year | Cost amount ÷ yearly working hours from contract |
**Monthly / yearly working hours** use business days (weekends excluded) and the contract's **hours per week**:
```
working hours = (business days ÷ 5) × hours per week
```
If a member has **no contract**, employment hourly cost is **0** for that member in profitability. Overhead may still apply if they are assigned overhead items.
For how contracts feed hourly cost on member profiles, see [Cost profile](/members/cost-profile).
### Overhead
**Hourly overhead** from assigned [overhead cost](/finance/overhead-costs) line items is added to the employment hourly cost:
```
loaded hourly cost = employment hourly cost + hourly overhead
```
See [Overhead costs](/finance/overhead-costs) for allocation rules and the contract-based hours conversion.
### Expenses
Project **expenses** add to cost when **either**:
* the expense has **no project**, or
* the expense is **not billable**
Billable expenses linked to a project are **excluded** from profitability cost (they are treated as pass-through to the client, not internal cost).
Expense cost uses `amount × exchange rate` and is grouped by **date incurred** month.
## Filters
Profitability respects filters passed to the calculation. What you select determines which time entries, invoices, allocations, and expenses are included.
### Supported filters
| Filter | Effect |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Date range** | Limits records to the period. If omitted on the API, the range is inferred from the data |
| **Customer** | Only work / invoices / expenses linked to those customers |
| **Project** | Only work / invoices / expenses on those projects |
| **Team** | Only work on tasks belonging to those teams. For invoices and expenses, the project must be linked to the team |
Filters combine with **AND** logic: a record must match every filter you set.
### Where filters appear in the product
| Surface | Default filters | Notes |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **Finance → Overview** | Date range (current year), optional customer / project / team | Uses the shared time-entry filter bar |
| **Project → Finance** | Fixed to the **current project** | No customer/team picker; scoped automatically |
### Person / member filter
The time-entry filter bar on Finance Overview includes a **member** filter. That filter applies to billed/unbilled stats on the page. Profitability totals use **customer**, **project**, **team**, and **date range** only.
To review one person's contribution, narrow by **project** or **team**, or
review their logged time and contract/overhead setup on the member profile.
## Date grouping and chart behaviour
* Results are aggregated into **monthly** data points.
* The cumulative chart stacks profit over time within the filtered range.
* **Planned** profitability is always fetched alongside actuals for comparison on the chart.
### How the effective date range is chosen
When you set a date range explicitly, that range is used.
When you do not, Pike infers the range from the data:
| Mode | Range derived from |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Billable time | Earliest to latest **time entry** month, extended by expense months if present |
| Revenue booked | Earliest to latest **invoice due date** month, merged with time entry and expense months |
| Planned | Earliest allocation start to latest allocation end |
## Revenue vs cost timing
Billable time and revenue booked can tell different stories because **earnings** and **cost** use different anchors:
| Mode | Earnings dated by | Cost dated by |
| -------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Billable time | Time entry **start** month | Time entry **start** month |
| Revenue booked | Invoice **due date** month | Time entry **start** month + expense **incurred** month |
An invoice raised in March for January work will show revenue in March (revenue booked) but cost in January (when time was logged).
Switch between **Billable time** and **Revenue booked** when month-to-month
profit looks off. Timing differences between logged work and invoice due dates
are expected — pick the mode that matches the question you are answering.
## Access and permissions
| Feature | Roles |
| ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------- |
| View profitability endpoints | Admin, Manager, Finance |
| Manage overhead (affects cost) | Admin |
| Manage employment contracts (affects cost) | Admin, HR (contract management) |
## Prerequisites for accurate numbers
Profitability is only as good as the underlying data.
| Data | Affects | If missing |
| -------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| **Task assignment rate** | Earnings (billable time & planned) | Earnings = 0 for that work |
| **Employment contract** | Labor cost | Labor cost = 0 for that member |
| **Overhead assignment** | Loaded cost | Only base contract cost used |
| **Completed time entries** | Actual profitability | Open timers excluded |
| **Billable flag on tasks** | Billable time earnings | Non-billable tasks excluded from revenue |
## Example walkthrough
**Setup**
* Developer logs **10 h** in March on a billable task at **£150 / h** billable rate.
* Contract: **£6,000 / month**, 37.5 h/week → \~£36 / h employment cost.
* Overhead share: **£2 / h**.
* Loaded cost: **£38 / h**.
**Billable time mode (March data point)**
```
earnings = 10 × £150 = £1,500
cost = 10 × £38 = £380
profit = £1,120
```
**Revenue booked mode** — same cost, but earnings appear in the month the **invoice is due**, not necessarily March.
## Related documentation
Shared expenses, allocation rules, and how hourly overhead loads onto labor
cost.
Set member contracts, capacity, and hourly employment cost.
Profitability, budgets, and invoices on a single project.