Expenses

Not every payment is to a supplier for stock. Rent, electricity, cleaning, tea for the staff — money leaves the shop for all sorts of reasons. Recording those as expenses keeps your cash drawer honest and your profit figure real.

Who records themThe cashier or manager, whenever cash goes out.

How long it takesA few seconds per expense.

Where to find itUnder Expenses in the sidebar.

Overview

An expense is any money paid out that isn't buying stock from a supplier (that's a Purchase). Recording it does three useful things at once: it takes the amount out of your expected cash drawer, it lands in your reports, and it posts to your books automatically — so your Profit & Loss reflects the true cost of running the shop, not just what you sold.

To keep expenses tidy, you can sort them into categories you define yourself — like "Rent", "Utilities", "Wages" or "Cleaning".

Expense or purchase?

If you're buying things to resell (stock for the shelves), record it as a Purchase so it goes into inventory. If you're paying for running the business (rent, bills, repairs), record it here as an expense.

The Expenses screen listing recorded expenses with date, category and amount — The Expenses list — money paid out, grouped by category, with totals and export.

Why it's useful

Your cash drawer balances. Cash paid out is accounted for, so the shift's expected cash matches what's really in the till.
Your profit is real. Profit is sales minus all costs — expenses included — not just cost of goods.
You can see where money goes. Categories show at a glance how much went on rent versus utilities versus supplies.
Records for your accountant. Every expense carries a date, amount, category and reference, and exports to Excel.

Recording an expense, step by step

Open Expenses and start a new one
Go to Expenses in the sidebar and choose New expense.
Fill in what was paid
Enter the date, the amount, and pick a category. Optionally choose how it was paid (cash, bank, card), attach a supplier if relevant, and add a reference (the bill or invoice number) and any notes.
Save it
Choose Record expense. It's added to the list, deducted from the drawer if paid in cash, and posted to your books.

Expense categories

Categories are a simple picklist you control. Open the category manager from the expense form (Manage categories) to add, rename or remove them. Good categories make your reports far more useful — aim for a handful of clear buckets rather than dozens of tiny ones.

Example category	Typical expenses
Rent	Shop rent, storage rent
Utilities	Electricity, water, internet, phone
Wages	Staff pay, casual help
Supplies	Bags, cleaning, stationery
Repairs	Equipment fixes, maintenance

Finding & exporting expenses

The Expenses list can be filtered by category and date range, or searched by number, reference or notes. A summary shows the count and the total spent for whatever you've filtered to. Use Export to download the list as CSV or Excel for your records or your accountant.

Tips & best practices

Record it when it happens. Enter the expense as the cash leaves, so the drawer count at shift close is right.
Keep the reference. Type the bill or invoice number in — future-you (and your accountant) will be glad it's there.
Use a few clear categories. "Utilities" beats separate categories for electricity, water and internet.
Paid in cash? Mark it so. Choosing the cash payment method is what ties the expense to the drawer.

Notes & warnings

Deleting an expense removes it from the books and can't be undone. Only delete genuine mistakes; for a real payment that was later refunded, record it as it happened rather than erasing history.

Expenses affect your cash reconciliation. A cash expense that isn't recorded will make the drawer look short at close — so record every cash-out.

Related: Purchases · Shifts & cash drawer · Accounting · Reports