## Documentation Index

Access the complete documentation index at:
https://www.zoho.com/za/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](/za/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](/za/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**).

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## View Journal

After you have [created](/za/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.

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## 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 R100 on office supplies, R80 on advertising and R90 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)

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## 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**.

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

**Related**

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