How to record an expense

Every dollar that leaves the business should land somewhere you can find it later. Recording an expense takes a few fields, and once it’s in, it flows into your categories, your project margins, and your reports.

When you’d use this

Record an expense the day it happens, not at month end. The habit matters more than the fields: a cost logged with its receipt while you still remember what it was for is a thirty-second job, while a pile of bank lines in December is an afternoon of guessing. Attribute project-related costs to their project as you go and the margin report stays accurate; log the general overhead (software, insurance, the coffee machine) against a category so the year-end picture is complete.

Record an expense

1. Go to Expenses and choose New.
2. Pick the vendor — the company you paid.
3. Choose a category and, if it helps, a subcategory.
4. Enter the amount.
5. Set the due date and, once it’s settled, the paid date.
6. Set the status — owed, overdue, pending, slated, or paid.
7. Add a PO number and a receipt attachment if you have them.

Tip: Attach the receipt while you’re looking at it. A receipt linked to the expense saves you a folder dig at tax time.

Why the fields matter

The category groups the cost for reporting, the dates drive your aging and cash view, and the status tells you at a glance what’s still owed versus settled. Fill them in now and the reports do the math later. See expense tracking for the full picture.

FAQ

Do I need a vendor for every expense?

Yes, because every cost needs a payee. Create a quick vendor record for one-off purchases; it takes a few seconds and keeps the report clean.

Can I mark an expense as billable to a client?

Yes. Flag it billable and attribute it to the project, and it can be passed through on an invoice rather than absorbed as cost.

What are the expense statuses for?

They mirror invoices: owed and overdue are bills you still have to pay, pending and slated are scheduled, paid is settled. The dashboard uses them to show cash going out.

What’s next

• How to create a recurring expense
• Attribute an expense to a project
• Organize expenses with categories and tags