Tracking expenses
One-off and recurring costs, due dates, and marking a recurring expense as paid.
Expenses are the costs that are not materials: rent, wages, electricity, repairs, software. Product costing covers what goes into a job; this covers what it takes to keep the doors open. You need both before any profit figure is meaningful.
Two kinds of expense
| Quick | Recurring | |
|---|---|---|
| For | One-off costs you have just paid | Regular commitments |
| Frequency | — | Weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly |
| Due date | Not used | When it falls due |
| Paid | Immediately on creation | When you mark it paid |
Use Quick for a courier charge or an emergency part — money already gone. Use Recurring for rent and salaries, so they appear as upcoming commitments before they are paid.
Adding an expense
In Expenses, press add and choose Quick or Recurring. Give it a name, an amount, and optionally a category — free text such as Rent, Utilities, Wages or Maintenance. Recurring expenses also take a frequency and a due date.
Categories are what make the report readable
A category is optional but pays off immediately: it is how the financial report groups spending. Agree a short list with whoever else enters expenses and stick to it — “Utilities” and “utility bills” will not add up together.
Marking one paid
A recurring expense stays unpaid until you mark it so. Unpaid entries are shown as upcoming commitments — visible so you can plan for them, but counted in neither profit nor cash flow until the money actually moves.
Why unpaid expenses are not counted
Counting a bill before you pay it would understate both your cash and your profit for the month, then double-count when it clears. Showing it as upcoming gives you the warning without corrupting the figures.
What belongs here
- Yes: rent, wages, electricity, internet, software, machine servicing, delivery costs, bank charges.
- No: paper and ink you bought — that is a purchase order, and buying stock is not a loss.
- No: materials consumed by a job — those are costed automatically from the recipe.
Expenses feed both views of the Financial Report: they reduce net profit and they reduce cash. They are the only thing that does both.
Open Expenses
Related guides
Profit & Loss vs Cash Flow
Two views of the same business, why they disagree, and why buying stock is not a loss.
Maintenance schedules and status
Schedule by months or by pieces produced, and read the approaching / due / overdue signal.
Sales and inventory reports
Period presets, what counts as a sale, and how to read the inventory report.