What are Expense Categories?

FreshBooks makes it easy to keep track of your spending with Expenses with categories to organize them.

The categories available in FreshBooks are the ones commonly found on tax forms for claiming your business Expenses. FreshBooks also makes it easy for you to create your own custom Subcategories if a specific one isn't available.

• Default Categories
• Full List of Default Categories and Subcategories
• Create Your Own Custom Subcategory
  
• FAQs

Default Categories

FreshBooks comes with a set of tax-friendly Categories and Subcategories right from the start. See here for the full list. These are set up as defaults and cannot be edited or deleted.

If you have a bank account connected that is importing Expenses, these Expenses will be labelled Uncategorized until you assign them a Category to remember for the future. You can pull up Uncategorized Expenses by using the search field and checking off Uncategorized expenses before clicking Apply:

Create Your Own Custom Subcategory

1. While editing an Expense, click on the Choose a category and enter the custom subcategory you want
2. Click on the + Create (Subcategory name) button
   
3. You can edit the name and choose a parent category to put it under
   
4. Click Done to finish
5. It will now appear on the drop-down list as an option. You can click Edit next to it if you want to update it again after it's already been created.
   

To delete a custom Subcategory, just click Edit next to it, and then click on the Delete link. All Expenses assigned under a deleted Subcategory will automatically be reassigned to the parent Category afterwards.

Full List of Default Categories and Subcategories

The set of default categories and subcategories that make organizing your receipts for tax-time easy.

• Advertising
• Car & Truck Expenses
  • Gas
  • Mileage
  • Repairs
  • Vehicle Insurance
  • Vehicle Licensing
• Contractors
• Education and Training
• Employee Benefits
  • Accident Insurance
  • Health Insurance
  • Life Insurance
• Meals & Entertainment
  • Entertainment
  • Restaurants/Dining
• Office Expenses & Postage
  • Hardware
  • Office Supplies
  • Packaging
  • Postage
  • Printing
  • Shipping & Couriers
  • Software
  • Stationery
• Other Expenses
  • Bank Fees
  • Business Insurance
  • Commissions
  • Depreciation
  • Interest - Mortgage
  • Interest - Other
  • Online Services
  • Reference Materials
  • Repairs & Maintenance
  • Subscriptions/Dues/Memberships
  • Taxes & Licenses
  • Wages
• Personal
• Professional Services
  • Accounting
  • Legal Fees
• Rent or Lease
  • Equipment
  • Machinery
  • Office Space
  • Vehicles
• Supplies
• Travel
  • Airfare
  • Hotel/Lodging/Accommodation
  • Taxi & Parking
• Utilities
  • Gas & Electrical
  • Phone

FAQs

How do I change or update the Category on multiple Expenses?

You can reassign Expense Categories using these steps below:

1. Use the Search, or check off the boxes next to the Expenses you want to edit
2. Click on the Bulk Actions button
3. Select Change Category
4. In the dropdown, type to find the category, create a new Subcategory or choose from the list
5. Click Save to finish. Your Expenses will now be reassigned to this new Category.

How can I have Expense Categories automatically remembered for future imported expenses? 

Depending on which Bank Connection partner you're using (you can compare here), you can go to Plaid for steps or Yodlee for steps on how to have similar expenses automatically categorized for you.