Record an expense

Every payment that is not to a supplier or a customer is recorded as an expense: office rent, electricity, internet, fuel, maintenance, bank charges, a small purchase paid from petty cash. You choose the expense account to charge and where the money comes from, and the system posts the payment voucher immediately.

Before you start

• The expense account must be a posting account (level 5) of your branch. See Posting rules.

• For cash, the cash box you pay from must hold enough money. A cash expense that would take the cash box below zero is refused.

• For bank transfer, card or wallet, the method must be linked to an account for your branch. See Set up payment methods.

• The current year's fiscal year must be active for your branch. The expense is dated today.

Steps

1. Open Accounting › Payments › Expenses.

2. In Expense account, choose the account to charge, for example rent or electricity.

3. Choose the Payment method.

4. For cash or cheque, choose the Cash box account. For a method linked to an account, this field is hidden and the line Posts to: shows the account that pays.

5. Enter the Amount.

6. Optional: enter the Manual receipt no. of the paper receipt or bill, so you can match the voucher to the document later.

7. For a cheque, enter the Cheque serial no., the Bank account the cheque is drawn on, and the Due date.

8. Optional: describe the expense in Note.

9. Select Submit.

A message confirms the posting and shows the batch number of the journal entry.

What happens next

• The books: the expense account is debited with the amount. The money account is credited: the cash box for cash, the cheque's bank account for a cheque, or the account linked to the method.

• Cheque: when you enter a cheque serial number, the cheque is added to the cheques register as a released cheque. See Record and track cheques.

• Reports: the expense appears in the payments voucher report, with its manual receipt number and note, and in the expense lines of the profit and loss report. See List receipt and payment vouchers.

Common questions

The system says there is not enough balance. The chosen cash box holds less than the expense. Pick another cash box, or transfer money into it first. See Transfer between accounts.

Can I record a supplier invoice here? Record purchases from a supplier as a purchase invoice, and pay it with Pay a supplier. Use expenses for costs that have no supplier account.

Can I charge one payment to several expense accounts? Not on this screen. Record one expense per account, or post a manual journal entry with several lines.