Estimating Project Costs in Zoho Projects – Based on Hours and External Costs

Estimating Project Costs in Zoho Projects – Based on Hours and External Costs

Hi everyone,

I'm currently setting up a project in Zoho Projects and working on implementing a budgeting structure.

I’ve already enabled cost tracking based on hours logged to tasks, but I’m looking to expand this to estimate total actual costs, based on two key parameters:

  1. Hours spent, with each user having a predefined hourly cost

  2. External costs – such as materials, subcontractors, travel, and other project-related expenses

Ideally, I'd like to be able to assign cost rates to each user and track additional costs that aren't tied directly to time logs. I would like to avoid Zoho Expense, it's not what I'm looking to use here.

This kind of cost estimation is fairly common in project management, but I haven't found a straightforward way to implement both aspects within Zoho Projects. Has anyone tackled this before or found a good workaround. Preferably in Zoho Projects, but Creator or something similar would also be great.

Any ideas or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

    • Sticky Posts

    • Automation Series: Auto-create Dependent Task on Status Change

      In Zoho Projects, you can automatically create and assign a dependent task when a task’s status is updated. This helps teams stay aligned, ensures reviews happen on time, and reduces manual effort. In this post, we’ll walk through an easy setup using
    • Time Log Reminder

      Tracking the time spent on tasks and issues is one of the most important functions of a timesheet. However, users may forget to update the time logs because they have their own goals to achieve. But, time logs must be updated at regular intervals to keep
    • Introducing the Zoho Projects Learning Space

      Every product has its learning curve, and sometimes having a guided path makes the learning experience smoother. With that goal, we introduce a dedicated learning space for Zoho Projects, a platform where you can explore lessons, learn at your own pace,
    • Update on V2 API End-of-Life Timeline

      Dear Users, Earlier this year, we shared the launch of the V3 APIs and requested users to migrate from the older V2 APIs by December 2025. We have received valuable feedback from our users and partners regarding their migration timelines. We are happy
    • Automation Series: Auto-update Phase Status

      Hello Folks! You can auto-update your phase's status based on status of underlying tasks using custom functions. In this series, we will showcase how to create and run custom functions, using Deluge, with ease. Follow the steps below and automate your