---
sourceDocument: Australia IT Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/it-service-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia IT Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itsm

bundleId :

    - itsm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Automatic expense line creation

# Automatic expense line creation {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
You can automatically create expense lines to facilitate the accurate reporting of
expenses.  
If enabled, the following processes generate expense lines automatically.

* Active CI rate cards are processed monthly to generate expense lines for each CI in the rate card. If a CI relationship is changed, existing expense lines are not affected. Changes are reflected in the next scheduled expense line.
* Active distribution costs are processed monthly to generate expense lines based on distribution rule targets.
* Closed tasks on task rate cards are processed to generate expense lines.
{#c_CreateExpenseLinesAutomatically__ul_lmh_xbt_qq}

Expense lines can also be imported from external systems or generated from scripts. To generate
an expense from a server-side script, use the ExpenseLine API.
**Related tasks**   

* [Create an allocation rule](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/OQ4nrdwHA21y3WRiIdF_lw "Expense allocation rules enable you to associate expenses with an item, such as a user, group, or department.")
* [Create expense lines manually](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/DxNM~h8HTxFTrMiwzIgQ1A "You can create expense lines at a single level or in a hierarchy to better organize expense information.")
* [Delete an expense line](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/0Skwc7owJszSboUNZgrVww "Deleting an expense line also deletes all expense allocations that were generated from the expense line.")
* [Create a sample allocation rule](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/fmh6A2yZ_XhyEuLYajiNVQ "You can create a sample expense allocation rule that allocates the cost of an incident to the department of the caller.")
* [Use a scripted allocation](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/OvgBBN3c1Rs6Hw9cg33t3w "Scripted allocations define custom allocation amounts and targets by executing a script.")  
**Related topics**   

* [Create or edit a CI relationship](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=t_CreateCIRelationship&version=australia&pubname=australia-servicenow-platform&ft:locale=en-US)