Overview
Expense categories are labels that classify each expense by its type (e.g., Travel, Meals, Office Supplies). Categories are essential for accurate financial reporting, budget tracking, and accounting integration. Smartbills comes with a set of default categories, and you can customize them to match your organization’s chart of accounts. To manage categories, navigate to Settings > Categories in the left sidebar.Only users with the Admin, Owner, or Accountant role can manage categories.
Default Categories
Smartbills provides a set of commonly used categories out of the box, including:- Travel
- Meals & Entertainment
- Office Supplies
- Transportation
- Software & Subscriptions
- Professional Services
- Utilities
- Miscellaneous
Create a Custom Category
1
Open Categories Settings
Navigate to Settings > Categories. The page displays all existing categories in a reorderable list.
2
Click Add Category
Click the Add Category button at the top of the list.
3
Enter Category Details
Fill in the category form:
- Name (required), The display name of the category (e.g., “Client Entertainment”)
- GL Account Code: The general ledger account code for accounting integration (e.g., “6200”)
- Description: An optional description to help employees choose the right category
4
Save
Click Save to create the category. It will appear in the category list and be available for employees to select when submitting expenses.
Edit a Category
Click any category in the list to open its detail panel. You can modify the name, GL account code, and description. Click Save to apply your changes.Renaming a category updates it across all existing expenses that use it. Historical reports reflect the updated name.
Set GL Account Codes
GL (General Ledger) account codes link your Smartbills categories to your accounting software. When you export expenses, the GL codes are included so your accounting team or integration can map expenses to the correct accounts. Enter the GL code in the category detail panel. The format depends on your accounting system (e.g., “5000”, “6200-01”).Enable and Disable Categories
To prevent employees from using a category without deleting it:- Click the category in the list
- Toggle the Enabled switch to off
- Click Save
Reorder Categories
Drag and drop categories in the list to change their display order. The order you set here determines the sequence in which categories appear in the dropdown menus throughout Smartbills.What’s Next?
Departments
Set up departments for expense allocation
Vendors
Assign default categories to vendors