Manage Expense Categories and Budgets
Categories tell Biznsbook what kind of spend a claim is, which tax treatment applies, and which ledger account to use. Budgets cap or warn on that spend over a period.
Set up categories
- Go to Expenses → Categories.
- Create a category with a clear name. You can nest categories under a parent when you want a hierarchy.
- Choose tax treatment: taxable, tax-free, zero-rated, or exempt.
- Assign a GL account. Posting to Accounting needs this on every category you plan to approve and post.
- Optionally require a receipt, require approval, and set a maximum amount for claims in this category.
- Keep categories active while you use them; mark them inactive when they should no longer appear on new expenses.
Your administrator may also import a default category list if your company is starting from scratch.
Set up budgets
- Go to Expenses → Budgets.
- Choose a period type: Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual.
- Tie the budget to a category, and optionally to a department.
- Enter the budget amount for the period.
- Set an alert threshold (default is 80% used). Biznsbook can warn when utilization approaches that level.
How budgets affect submit
- Near or over budget usually produces a warning so the submitter can reconsider.
- Submit is blocked when the claim would go over budget and the category has a maximum amount configured.
Use the budget vs. actual view on the Budgets screen (and the reports hub) to see variance before the period closes.
:::warning GL account before you post An approved expense will not post cleanly to Accounting if its category has no GL account. Set the account when you create the category, not after the first claim is stuck. :::