## Documentation Index

Access the complete documentation index at:
https://www.zoho.com/us/books/help/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available documentation pages before proceeding.

# Basic Functions in Expenses

Expenses in Zoho Books can be created and tracked in different accounts.

## Create Expense

If you incur expenses in your organization, you can add them in Zoho Books.

To create a new expense:

*   Go to **Purchases** > **Expenses** (or press **shift** + **x**).
*   Click the **\+ New** button in the top right corner of the page (or press **c** + **x**).
*   Enter the following details in the **New Expense** page.

![New Expense](/books/help/images/expense/new-expense1.png)

**Date**  
Select the date on which the expense is created.

**Employee**  
Employees may or may not be users. You can add and associate an employee to an expense. To add an employee, click the **Employee** field, select **Manage Employees** and click **\+ Add New Employee**. You can even delete employees by clicking the **Delete** icon next to them.

**Expense Account**  
Select an account to track the expense you’re going to record.

**Itemize**  
Add multiple expense accounts under which you wish to track different expenses by clicking **Itemize**. These accounts will be debited once the expense is recorded. After saving the bill, click **Display Journal** at the bottom of the page to view the corresponding journal.

![Itemize](/books/help/images/expense/itemize-expenses.png)

**Amount**  
Enter the expense amount and the tax applicable on it, if any.

**Paid Through**  
Choose the account which tracks the payment for the expense. This account will be credited when the expense is recorded.

**Vendor**  
Select a vendor to whom you wish to associate the expense.

**Customer Name**  
Associate the expense to a customer. You can mark the expense billable to the customer and convert this expense into an invoice to collect payment from the customer.

To make the expense billable:

*   Mark the **Billable** option next to the Customer Name.
*   Select a **Project** to associate with the customer, if this is an expense incurred for the project.
*   If you had [configured a default markup percentage](/books/help/settings/preferences.html#general) for billable bills and expenses in Settings, the default percentage will be pre-filled. You can edit and change the markup percentage, if needed.
*   Click **Save**.

![Unbilled Expenses](/books/help/images/expense/mark-expense-billable.jpg)

Also, you’re creating an invoice for the associated customer, this expense will be shown as an **unbilled item** in the invoice to be included as a billable line item.

![Unbilled Expenses](/books/help/images/expense/unbilled-expense1.png)

You can select the expenses to be billed to the customer.

![Add Unbilled Expenses](/books/help/images/expense/unbilled-expense2.png)

**Attach Receipt**  
Attach the receipt of your expense from your **Desktop**, **Cloud** or from your **Documents** in Zoho Books. You can also delete the receipt by clicking the **Delete** icon.

![Attach Receipt](/books/help/images/expense/attach-receipt.png)

**Projects**  
Choose project(s) you wish to associate with the expense. If you associate a project for the customer, then you can bill it while creating an expense for the customer.

**Reporting Tags**  
Associate reporting tags for the expense. Learn more about [Reporting Tags](/books/help/settings/reporting-tags.html).

![New Expense](/books/help/images/expense/new-expense2.png)

*   After entering the details, click **Save** (or press **alt**/**option** + **s**) or **Save & New** (or press **alt**/**option** + **s**).

* * *

## View Journal

After you have [created](/us/books/help/expense/basic-functions.html#create-expense) an expense, you can view its corresponding journal entry in Zoho Books. Here’s how:

*   Go to **Purchases** > **Expenses** (or press **shift** + **x**).
*   Select the expense that you have created.
*   Click **More** > **View Journal**.

![View Journal](/books/help/images/expense/view-journal.png)

The corresponding journal will be displayed.

![Journal Entry](/books/help/images/expense/journal-entry.png)

**Pro Tip:** To view the journal in the expense details page itself, you can select the expense, scroll down and click **Display Journal** to view the journal entry.

* * *

## Add Bulk Expenses

If you incur expenses in bulk, you can add them in Zoho Books.

**Scenario:** Patricia incurs few expenses while buying resources for her organization. She spends $100 on office supplies, $80 on advertising and $90 on travel. She can add all these expenses in bulk in Zoho Books.

To add bulk expenses:

*   Go to **Purchases** > **Expenses** (or press **shift** + **x**).
*   Click the **\+ New** button in the top right corner of the page.
*   Select the **Bulk Add Expenses** tab on top of the page.
*   Enter all the expenses on various dates. To add more expenses apart from the ones given, click **\+ Add More Expenses** at the bottom of the page.
*   Click **Save**.

![Bulk Expenses](/books/help/images/expense/bulk-expenses.png)

* * *

## Import Expenses

You can import a list of expenses you have in CSV, TSV or XLS format. Here’s how:

*   Go to _Purchases_ on the left sidebar and select **Expenses** (or press **shift + x**).
*   Click the **More** icon in the top right corner of the page.
*   Select **Import Expenses**.

![Import Expenses](/books/help/images/expense/more-import-expense-1.png)

*   In the next page, click **Choose File** to choose the file you would like to upload; you can choose to attach from desktop, cloud, or documents. You can download the sample CSV or XLS file for your reference by clicking **sample csv file** or **sample xls file**.

**Note:** The file size should not exceed 25 MB.

*   After uploading your file, choose a **Character Encoding** and **File Delimiter** for your file.

**Insight:** **Character Encoding** is used to pair numbers with characters. By default, the Unicode Transformation Format (UTF-8) encoding is used, which supports a wide range of characters that go beyond 8 bits.

**Insight:** The **Field Delimiter** is used to separate two values in a row. While importing recurring invoices, the default file delimiter is comma (,).

*   Click **Next**.

![Upload File](/books/help/images/expense/upload-file-1.png)

*   Ensure that all the fields are mapped correctly in the **Map Fields** page.

![Map Fields](/books/help/images/expense/map-fields-1.png)

*   Mark the box **Save these selections for use during future imports** if you want to use the similar import format for the next time.

![Save Selection](/books/help/images/expense/same-selections-1.png)

*   Click **Next**.
*   Preview and click **Import**.

* * *

**Next >**  
[Manage Expenses](/us/books/help/expense/manage-expenses.html)

**Related**

*   [Overview - Expenses](/)
*   [Mileage Expenses](/us/books/help/expense/mileage-expenses.html)
*   [Other Actions for Expenses](/us/books/help/expense/other-actions.html)
*   [Expense Preferences](/us/books/help/expense/preferences.html)