Expense Categories

Every expense entry must be linked to a specific category. You can view expense categories the same way you view labor codes on timesheets (e.g. - as short hand for notes), but there are a couple of additional items that we use the category field to determine.

• Category fields can be used to setup a "unit cost" value. Firms use that for expenses like mileage that get reimbursed at a specific rate. It lets the user enter in a number of miles and then the system calculates the overall cost. BigTime also lets you specify a Unit Price value, so that customers can be billed at a different rate than the unit cost if that is required.
• Like Labor Codes, categories can be sorted/grouped in all of the screens and reports that deal with expense detail.
• QuickBooks Links. When you post your expenses into QuickBooks, each expense entry is posted as a line item on a bill. The expense category tells us what account/item the expense should be linked to. If you're invoicing in BigTime, that category link may be used there as well (once again, to sort out which fees are linked to which revenue accounts).

Importing Other Charge/Inventory Items to Your BigTime Expense Category List

If you're using QuickBooks to track and bill expenses, then you may already have a set of "other charge" or "inventory" items that you'd like to use in BigTime. If you do, you can replace your BigTime expense categories with those items by following these simple steps:

1. Goto the Tools...System Settings...List/Lookups...Expense Categories screen (from the BigTime main menu).
2. Click "replace these with my QuickBooks items" in the information box on that page. The system will replace your items with the appropriate items from your QuickBooks data file. Note that any item that already has expenses attached to it will NOT be deleted from BigTime during this update.