Every invoice goes into the ledger, a separate version of the budget that holds invoice lines and nothing else. Each ledger section splits into Paid and Unpaid. Check it against the budget at any point in the show, then reconcile once at wrap.
Approve the budget. Locked or Live, the workflow is the same until close-out.
Create the ledger. While viewing the approved version, go to Versions → Create ledger. Every budget section is copied with "(Actuals)" added to its name, and each one gets two empty subsections: Paid and Unpaid. No line items, prices, fee or contingency carry over.
The ledger is a permanent version of its own. It's never presented to a client and never becomes the working draft. Each project has one.
Drop the invoice into the ledger. On the ledger, open Drop Zone, attach the invoice PDF or image and switch on One line per invoice. Piper reads it and proposes one line in the matching section, with the vendor, the invoice number and date, the net cost and the tax rate.
The line lands in Unpaid unless the document shows it's been paid. Apply to save it. Typing a line by hand works the same way: quantity 1, net cost, the invoice's tax rate.
Mark it paid. When the invoice is settled, select the line and use Move to put it in the section's Paid subsection. For several at once, tick them and use the bulk Move. On a Locked budget the lines are locked, so unlock them first.
Credits, part payments and duplicates. A credit note is a negative line beside the invoice it credits. For a partial invoice, update the line when the balance arrives. Piper only flags a duplicate when the date, description and amount all match an existing line, so several receipts on the same day from different people stay separate.
Add any new budget section. If a section is added to the budget after the ledger was made, run Versions → Update ledger while viewing the budget version. It adds the missing section with its Paid and Unpaid pair and changes nothing already in the ledger.
Check progress any time. Compare → Reconcile, with Budget set to the approved version and Actuals set to the ledger. The tiles show the client price, budgeted cost, actual cost to date and how much of the budget has been invoiced, with the same split by section.
Next invoice: back to step 1
Finish the ledger. Enter the last invoices and credit notes, close any partial lines and write "Final" in the ledger's description. Move the project to Reconcile on the dashboard.
Save the Reconcile version. Save Version, named "Reconcile". It becomes the working draft, and the approved versions and the ledger aren't edited again. Lock every line at its current value (Lock, then Lock All), set every unit cost to 0 and remove the contingency in Version Settings. From here the actuals replace the estimate, so there's nothing left to hedge.
Pull the actuals in. Organize → Import, from this project's ledger, with every section ticked. Each ledger section lands inside the budget section of the same name as its Paid and Unpaid subsections. A section with no match arrives as its own (Actuals) section. Reconcile now holds the sold prices and the actual costs side by side.
Set the final price. This depends on the budget method.
The price was fixed at approval.
Reconcile keeps the sold prices plus approved change orders, less the contingency. Present it only if the contract calls for a closing statement.
The actuals set the price.
Unlock the pass-through sections so the estimate lines drop to zero and the actuals are priced at cost plus the contract markup, with the sale's tax rate set on them. Profit-centre sections keep their sold prices. Then present Reconcile for approval.
With either method, present after the reconciliation, never before it.
Read the final figures and close. Compare → Reconcile, Budget set to the approved version, Actuals set to the ledger: final cost, costs invoiced, final margin and variance by section. Export the PDF for your records, then mark the project Completed. The ledger is read-only from then on. Moving the project back out of Completed reopens it.
| Version | What it holds | Who sees it | When it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved | The sold estimate, plus any approved change orders | Client and producers | Never, once approved |
| Working draft | The running budget during the show | Producers | Any time, as the show changes |
| Ledger | One line per invoice or expense, at cost, in Paid or Unpaid, with no client price | Producers only. It can't be presented | Each time an invoice arrives or is paid, until the project is Completed |
| Reconcile | The final figures: sold prices on a Locked budget, actuals plus markup on a Live budget, with the actual costs beside both | Producers, then the client if presented | Saved at wrap, then closed |