Enter Expenses records a cost of running the business that is not stock: rent, hydro, the phone bill, fuel, insurance, a software subscription, the accountant's fee. You say who was paid, choose a category (which decides the account it goes to in your books), enter the amount and its tax, and say whether it was paid now or is still owed. It is a simpler form than Enter Bills, with one category and one tax rate per expense.
Use Enter Bills instead for goods you stock, or for a bill that needs several accounts on it.
Opening Enter Expenses
- Vendors ▸ Enter Expenses.
- From the Expenses list, New Expense.
Record an expense, step by step
- If you have the vendor's invoice or receipt as a file, choose Upload a file at the top. SeroBooks reads it and fills in the fields below. Nothing is recorded until you save; check every field.
- Set the Date the expense was incurred.
- In Paid to, choose who was paid. The vendor's balance shows under the name.
- Choose the Category. The line under it says which account it Books to.
- Choose the Location, Job and Class if your company uses them.
- Type the vendor's invoice number in Reference and a Note if you want.
- Under Amount, choose the Tax rate, type the Amount, and say whether it Includes tax or is Before tax. Check Net, Tax and Total paid underneath.
- Under Payment, turn the switch on if it has been paid, and enter the Amount paid and Method. Leave it off if it is still owed.
- Attach the receipt or invoice under Receipt or invoice once the expense is saved.
- Choose Save & Close, or Save & New to save and start another.
The fields
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Upload a file / Upload another | Reads a PDF, JPG, PNG or HEIC invoice or receipt and fills in the form. If it cannot read something it says Could not read: … and leaves it for you; nothing is guessed. If the payee on the document is not one of your contacts, SeroBooks offers Add this supplier?; choose Not now and the name is kept in the note. |
| Date | The expense date. It decides which period the expense and its tax fall in. |
| Paid to | The vendor (or any contact) paid. Click it for Who was paid?, search by name, business or phone, and pick one, or choose No payee. The contact's current balance is shown under the name. |
| Category | Required. The kind of expense; it decides the account in your books (Books to …). New creates a category (New expense category: a Name as it will appear on the profit and loss, and an optional Code). |
| Location | Shown when you have more than one location. |
| Job | Shown when your company has jobs: the job the cost belongs to, or No job — a general overhead. |
| Class | Shown when your company uses classes. |
| Reference | Supplier invoice number — leave blank to auto-number. |
| Note | What was this for? |
| Tax | No tax, or the rate the vendor charged. In Quebec the combined GST + QST rate is offered too. |
| Amount | The figure on the receipt. |
| Includes tax / Before tax | Whether the amount you typed already includes the tax. Most receipts show the total with tax, so Includes tax is the usual choice. |
| Net, Tax, Total paid | The breakdown SeroBooks works out. The tax line says recoverable when you can claim it back. |
| Paid now switch | On: Settled now. Enter the Amount paid (it starts at the total) and the Method (Cash, Card, Bank transfer, Cheque, Other). Off: Recorded as owing. It will appear on Payables until it is paid. |
| Receipt or invoice | Attach the source document: Attach a PDF or image or Photograph a receipt. Available once the expense is saved. |
If the category list is empty, SeroBooks offers to Add the usual categories (rent, utilities, wages, fuel, professional fees and so on) the first time you scan a receipt from the Expenses list; you can rename or remove them later.
Messages you may see
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Enter the amount that was paid. | Type the amount. |
| Choose a category — it decides which account this books to. | Choose or create a category. |
| Enter how much was paid, or switch off "Paid now". | Type the amount paid. |
| The payment is more than the expense. | Reduce the amount paid to the total or less. |
| An amber banner: This expense will be recorded but will NOT reach the general ledger | Automatic posting is off or no expense account is set. Fix it in Accounting Setup; expenses recorded meanwhile can be re-posted from there. |
| … which falls in a period closed on … | The date is on or before your closing date. |
What happens in the books
| Account | Debit or credit |
|---|---|
| The category's account (or your default expense account) | Debited with the net amount. |
| GST/HST input tax credits | Debited with recoverable tax. Tax you cannot claim back is added to the expense. |
| Accounts Payable | Credited with the total, on the payee's account. |
If it was paid now, the payment follows: Accounts Payable is debited and the account for the payment method is credited. An expense left owing shows as Unpaid in the Expenses list, and is counted in Still to pay there, until it is paid.
Supplier refunds
Record Refund on the Expenses list opens the same form as Supplier refund: Money coming back on something already recorded. It reverses the original entry. Fill it in the same way; every line of the entry is reversed. It needs the Record Supplier Refund right.
Editing and copying
Double-click an expense in the Expenses list to change it (Edit expense). Duplicate starts a new expense with the same payee, category and amount; the original is unchanged. If someone else saved the expense after you opened it, SeroBooks refuses your save rather than overwriting their change; open it again.
Permissions
Record Expense, Edit Expense, Record Supplier Refund and Delete Expense are separate rights. See Roles and permissions explained.