---
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


---

# Expense lines and expense allocations

# Expense lines and expense allocations {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
The Expense lines application tracks costs and record expenses incurred. Expense
allocations let you associate expenses with items such as users, groups, or
departments.

Expense lines are a key component of cost management because they can be generated from any
application and are used to allocate expenses to business entities. Expense lines can be created
manually or generated automatically when costs are created by scheduled processing.

Users with the financial_mgmt_admin and financial_mgmt_user roles can work with expense lines
and expense allocation rules.

To use expense allocation rules, activate the [Cost Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=r_CostManagement&version=australia&pubname=australia-it-business-management&ft:locale=en-US) application.
* **[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.
* **[Automatic expense line creation](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/bPJVL6oUKmsnjiv9B7jY3w)**   
  You can automatically create expense lines to facilitate the accurate reporting of expenses.
* **[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 concepts**   

* [Domain separation and Expense Line](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/4MqFdaHX2eA02ZXIURnQaA "Domain separation is unsupported in Expense Line processing. Domain separation enables you to separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logical groupings called domains. You can control several aspects of this separation, including which users can see and access data.")  
**Related tasks**   

* [View an expense](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/v7PQlOd9Z8eACl8k5avOPQ "Expense lines can be used in various ways, for example, how to view expenses that are associated with a given contract.")  
**Related reference**   

* [Components installed with Expense Line](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/8Rrz2Rrx0MhfosaG6wSsBw#r_InstalledWithExpenseLine "Several types of components are installed with the Expense Line plugin.")