# Project Finance
The Finance page is the full financial view for a project — combining the estimate baseline, live budget performance, and working margin in one place. Access it via **Finance** in the project's left navigation.
> [!note]
> The Finance page only appears after a budget has been generated. Until then, use the Live Margins sidebar panel for estimate-level financial visibility.
Where the Live Margins sidebar panel shows a single context at a time (estimate or budget), the Finance page shows all three panels together with a unified breakdown table beneath them.
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## The Three Panels
### Estimate Totals
The approved baseline — what was sold and what was authorized to spend.
- **External** — total approved revenue
- **Internal** — total approved job expenses
- **Margin** — planned profit, in dollars and as a percentage
### Budget Totals
What's actually happening with money on the job.
- **Internal** — approved internal total (same as Estimate Totals Internal; the baseline for variance)
- **Projected Job Expenses** — expenses in Draft status
- **Committed Job Expenses** — expenses in Confirmed, Posted, Requested, or Rejected status
- **Incurred Job Expenses** — expenses in Approved, Payment Scheduled, or Paid status
- **Working Total** — Projected + Committed + Incurred
- **Job Expense Variance** — difference between approved Internal and Working Total
### Summary
How the budget affects profitability.
- **Working Margin** — current projected profit: External Total minus Working Total
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## The Breakdown Table
Below the panels, switch between **Categories**, **Departments**, and **Items** tabs to see the full financial picture broken down at each level. The table shows all columns simultaneously:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **External** | Approved estimate revenue for this group |
| **Internal Total** | Approved estimate cost for this group |
| **Margin** | Estimate-level profit for this group |
| **Working Total** | Current budget spend for this group |
| **Job Expense Variance** | Difference between Internal Total and Working Total |
This combined view is where you can see, at a glance, which departments or categories are running close to or over their approved internal budgets — and how that translates to overall project margin.
The **Totals** section at the bottom of the table rolls up all groups and shows the project-wide figures including discount, discounted subtotal, markup fees, and grand total across all columns.
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## Live Margins vs. Finance Page
The **Live Margins sidebar** is designed for quick, contextual monitoring while you're working in the estimate or budget. It shows one panel at a time and updates as you make changes.
The **Finance page** is for review — the complete picture in one view, with all columns visible simultaneously. Use it when you need to understand the full financial state of a project, present numbers to a stakeholder, or diagnose where variance is coming from.