Expense and income categories

Categories sort your spending and income. Expense categories are offered on new expenses, supplier bills and payment vouchers. Income categories are offered on new cash receipts. Each category has its own account in the Chart of Accounts.

Who can do this

Only owners and admins can add, rename, archive or restore categories. Only they see the Categories button. In the demo workspace nothing can be changed.

Steps

Add a category

1. Open Expenses under Purchases in the Finance menu.
2. Click Categories.
3. Type the New category name and choose its Kind: Expense or Income. The kind cannot be changed afterwards.
4. Click Add category.

Rename, archive or restore a category

1. In the Categories card, open the category's row menu.
2. Choose Rename and type the new name, then click Save name. Everything filed under it shows the new name. Its account in the Chart of Accounts is renamed too, unless that one was renamed there.
3. Or choose Archive and confirm with Archive category. It is no longer offered on new forms, and its account is archived with it. What is already filed under it keeps it.
4. An archived category shows Restore in its menu.

Categories are never deleted.

Common problems

• "There is already an expense category called …" Each name is used once per kind.
• "An archived expense category is already called … Restore it from its row rather than adding it again."
• "Invoices post to this category, so it is not archived. It can be renamed." The category marked Invoices post here stays.
• "A bill with no category goes to this one, so it is not archived. It can be renamed." The category marked Bills default here stays.
• "Only an owner or admin can add or change categories. Ask one of them to do this."

Related

• Record an expense
• Chart of accounts