Managing Expense Categories

Organize your business spending with custom expense categories in Officaid for clearer financial tracking.

Keep Your Expenses Organized

Stop scrolling through long lists of transactions. Categories let you group expenses by type, so you can instantly see where your money is going and spot spending patterns at a glance.

System vs Custom Categories

Officaid provides two types of expense categories:

System categories are pre-built categories that cover common business expenses like Advertising, Bank Fees, and Hardware / Software. These cannot be edited or deleted, and are marked with a lock icon.
Custom categories are categories you create to match your specific business needs. You can edit or delete these at any time using the pencil and trash icons.

Viewing Your Categories

1 Navigate to Finance → Expenses from the main menu
2 Click the Categories tab
3 Use the year filter or select Custom to view a specific date range

The categories list displays three columns: Category Name, Category Type (System or Custom), and Total Amount spent in each category. You can also download the list using the Download button.

Adding a Custom Category

1 Go to Finance → Expenses → Categories
2 Click the + Add New Category button in the top right corner
3 Enter a Category Name
4 Add optional Remarks to describe when this category should be used
5 Click Add Category to save

Choose clear, descriptive names for your categories. This makes it easier to select the right one when recording expenses.

Viewing Category Details

Click on any category name to see detailed spending information. The category detail page has two tabs: Overview and Spending.

Overview Tab

The Overview tab provides a summary of spending within the category:

Total shows the combined amount of all expenses and payables in this category for the selected period
Overdue shows the total amount of unpaid payables that are past their due date
Purchase Trend displays a chart of your monthly spending over time

Use the This Year dropdown above the spending summary to view data for different time periods.

Spending Tab

The Spending tab lists every expense and payable assigned to this category. Each row shows the Date, Vendor, Status (Paid, Due, or Overdue), Amount, and Currency. Use the filter buttons to narrow the list by status, or adjust the date range to find specific transactions.

Editing or Deleting a Custom Category

To modify a custom category, click the pencil icon in the Actions column. To remove it, click the trash icon. System categories cannot be edited or deleted.

Deleting a category does not delete the expenses assigned to it. Those expenses will need to be reassigned to a different category.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I edit or delete system categories?

No. System categories are locked and cannot be modified or removed. They ensure consistency in financial reporting across all Officaid accounts.

What happens to expenses if I delete their category?

The expenses remain in your account but will no longer be grouped under that category. You should reassign them to another category to keep your records organized.

Can I merge two categories together?

There is no automatic merge feature. To combine categories, you would need to edit each expense individually and change its category, then delete the unused category.

Why does my category show an overdue amount?

The overdue amount reflects unpaid payables within that category where the due date has passed. Review the Spending tab filtered by Overdue to see which bills need attention.

What's Next?

Now that you understand how to organize expenses by category, explore these related guides:

Recording an Expense - Add new expenses to your categories
Creating a Payable - Track bills that need to be paid
Downloading and Exporting Expenses - Export your categorized data for reports

expenses categories finance organization