Documentation
Expense Categories
Expense Categories turn business-language choices such as Travel, Hamali or Repairs into governed accounting, tax, receipt and payment defaults.
Purpose
Expense Categories are the foundation of day-to-day expense entry. A category gives users a business-friendly choice while Finance controls the default expense account, tax treatment, receipt expectations and which payment responsibilities are allowed.
Open Expense Management -> Setup -> Expense Categories (menu wording can vary by role/menu configuration), then use Create or open an existing category.
Save, Apply and Close
Save validates and saves the category, then returns to the list.
Actions -> Apply saves the same category but keeps the record open so you can continue working or verify the result.
Close leaves the workspace without performing a new save.
Quick Reference
Core fields
| Field | Requirement | Business meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Organization | Hard-save mandatory; locked after creation | Owns the category and its downstream availability. |
| Category Code | Hard-save mandatory; locked after creation | Stable code used to identify the category. |
| Category Type | Hard-save mandatory | Controls special behavior such as General, Mileage or Per Diem. |
| Category Name | Hard-save mandatory | User-facing business label. |
| Parent Category | Optional | Builds a reporting/administrative hierarchy. |
| Description | Optional | Explains intended use. |
| Default Expense Account | Operationally important / accounting-dependent | Seeds expense accounting where the transaction supports category defaulting. |
| Input Tax Eligible | Optional control | Indicates whether recoverable input tax may apply. |
| Recoverable % | Conditional | Percentage eligible for recovery; must be 0–100. |
| Receipt Required | Optional control | Marks receipts as expected by category. |
| Receipt Threshold | Conditional | Threshold amount for the receipt rule; cannot be negative. |
| Effective From / To | Optional validity control | Limits when the category should be used. |
| Active | Operational control | Inactive categories should not be selected for new transactions. |
Payment and use eligibility
Eligibility flags
| Control | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Allow Employee Paid | Category can be used for employee-paid claims. |
| Allow Company Paid | Category can be used for company-paid expenses. |
| Allow Petty Cash | Category is eligible for Petty Cash use. |
| Allow Corporate Card | Category can be marked eligible for company-card scenarios. |
| Allow Advance Settlement | Category can be used when settling a Cash Advance. |
| Allow Project Chargeback | Category permits project chargeback context where used. |
| Allow Customer Chargeback | Category permits customer chargeback context where used. |
| Allow Capitalization | Category can be designated as capitalization-eligible where the downstream accounting process uses it. |
Category Types
GENERAL is the normal category type for ordinary expenses.
MILEAGE makes My Expenses use the Mileage Details tab and configured Mileage Rate calculation.
PER_DIEM makes My Expenses use the Per Diem Details tab and configured Per Diem Rate calculation.
Other values can exist only when they are configured and supported by the current implementation; do not create business meaning from a label alone.
Accounting and tax defaults
Default Expense Account is a controlled default, not permission to ignore the Accounting & Dimensions tab. The final posting uses the transaction's saved accounting data.
Tax defaults can seed the transaction's tax context. Recoverable and non-recoverable amounts are separated at posting where applicable.
Default TDS/withholding context can be retained for Direct Expenses when withholding is applicable.
Recommended operating-center hierarchy
- Edition Center Expenses
- Hamali / Loading & Unloading
- Local Transport
- Vehicle / Fuel
- Courier & Freight
- Tea & Refreshments
- Stationery
- Repairs & Maintenance
- Electricity
- Telephone / Internet
- Cleaning
- Packing Material
- Miscellaneous
- Organization, Category Code, Category Name and Category Type are required.
- Recoverable tax percentage must be between 0 and 100.
- Receipt threshold cannot be negative.
- Effective To cannot be earlier than Effective From.
- At least Employee Paid or Company Paid must be allowed.
- Changing Organization/Code is protected after creation.
Good practice
- Use one stable business meaning per category; do not reuse a category later for a materially different cost.
- Prefer deactivation/effective dating over rewriting historical meaning.
- Review categories before a mass rollout to branches so operators see a short, understandable list.
- Use Expense Policies for timing/amount/receipt compliance instead of encoding every rule into the category itself.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Should users select a GL account for every expense?
Not necessarily. A category can seed the default account, while Finance can review/adjust accounting distributions where permitted.
Can I use one category for both employee and company-paid expenses?
Yes when both eligibility flags are enabled and the business meaning is the same.
How should I stop using an old category?
Prefer deactivation/effective dating so historical transactions retain their original category.