Costs

What Costs is for

Costs helps you track what was quoted, what you paid, and what may still be due. It is a private ledger for your journey, not financial advice. Use it to reduce budget surprises and prepare follow-ups with your agency or clinic.

Budget lines vs payments

Key payment fields

• Due date — when the invoice says payment is expected. Can appear on Calendar when payment filters are on.
• Paid date — when you sent funds or the charge cleared.
• Paid amount / currency — what actually left your account in contract currency.
• Invoice amount — what the provider billed, if different from what you paid (fees, FX).
• Link to budget line — connects payment to the expected cost so remaining balance stays accurate.

Contract currency vs reporting currency

Your journey has a reporting currency (set in Settings) for an overall view in one familiar unit, often EUR or USD.

• Contract currency — the currency on the quote or invoice (for example, USD from a Colombian agency).
• Reporting amount — what that line means in your reporting currency when they differ. You enter this explicitly; MySurrogacy does not guess exchange rates silently.

When contract and reporting currency already match, the contract amount counts automatically in the overall view.

Exchange rate fields

Optional exchange rate and note fields document the rate you used when converting mentally or through your bank. They support your records; they are not live market feeds.

Avoiding double counting

• Create one budget line per quoted item, not one per email mention.
• Link payments to that budget line instead of creating a second budget line for the same invoice.
• If you paid in two installments, add two payments linked to the same budget line.
• Close a budget line when nothing more is expected, even if the paid total differs slightly from the quote.

Overview totals

The Costs overview shows planned, paid, still expected, funding available, and buffer in your reporting currency. Lines in other currencies need a reporting amount before they join those totals; original amounts always stay visible in the breakdown below.

Invoices and documents

Attach invoice PDFs to payments or budget lines via the optional document link. Store the file in Documents first, then select it on the cost form.

Calendar

Due dates and paid dates can appear on the Calendar when payment filters are enabled.

FAQ

Should I enter the same invoice as a budget line and a payment?

Enter the quote once as a budget line, then add payment(s) linked to it.

Does MySurrogacy convert currencies automatically?

No. Enter reporting amounts explicitly when contract currency differs from your journey reporting currency.