Skip to main content
Expense categories are the list an expense is filed under – Travel, Software, Equipment. Owners, Admins and Finance manage the list at Settings → Expense categories.

​
What is an expense category?

A category is a workspace-wide label. Every expense is filed under exactly one. Categories exist so spend can be grouped. A report on the Expenses source can group by category, so you can see how much of a project’s cost went on travel versus software. Unlike tags, a category:
  • carries no colour
  • cannot be created from inside the expense form
  • can only be added by someone with the expenseCategory.manage capability
That is deliberate. Categories are a finance taxonomy, not a free-form label. If anyone could mint one mid-form, the list would fill with near-duplicates and the reports would stop adding up.

​
What a new workspace starts with

Every workspace begins with five categories:
  • Travel
  • Meals
  • Software
  • Equipment
  • Other
You can rename or archive any of them, and add as many as you need.

​
When to change the list

Your business has its own cost lines

A studio might add Print production, Stock imagery and Client entertainment.

A category is no longer used

Archive it. It drops out of the expense form, and every past expense keeps its label.

A name is wrong or unclear

Rename it. Because expenses point at the category rather than copying its name, the change shows everywhere at once.

You are cleaning up after a migration

Merge duplicates by renaming one and archiving the rest.

​
How to add a category

1

Open the settings page

Go to Settings → Expense categories.
2

Type the name

Use the New category name… field at the top of the All categories card.
3

Add it

Click the add button. The category appears in the table and in every expense form immediately.
A name must be 1 to 40 characters after trimming spaces.
Adding a name that already exists does not create a duplicate. If the matching category is archived, it is restored instead.

​
How to rename a category

1

Find the row

Use the search box or the scope filter to find the category.
2

Open the manage dialog

Click the pencil icon in the row’s action column. The Manage category dialog opens.
3

Change the name and save

Edit the Name field and save. A toast confirms Category renamed.
Renaming propagates everywhere. Every expense already filed under the category picks up the new name, including expenses that are already approved or invoiced. You cannot rename a category to a name another category already uses.

​
How to archive a category

Archiving retires a category without destroying history.
1

Open the row's lifecycle menu

Click the three-dot menu at the end of the category’s row.
2

Choose Archive

The category moves out of the active list.
After archiving:
  • the category disappears from the expense form’s dropdown
  • every past expense filed under it keeps working and keeps its label
  • reports still group by it
  • anyone with an open expense form pointing at it is moved to the first active category
To bring it back, switch the scope filter to Archived, open the row menu and choose Restore.
A category that still has expenses filed against it cannot be permanently deleted. That is the guardrail that stops financial history losing its labels. Archive it instead.

​
Example

Northwind Studio bills Bluebird Coffee for stock imagery often enough to want its own line.
1

Daniel adds the category

Daniel Okafor, Finance, opens Settings → Expense categories and adds Stock imagery.
2

Sarah files against it

Sarah Lin’s next $240 licence purchase is filed under Stock imagery instead of the generic Software.
3

The report splits

An Expenses report grouped by category now shows Stock imagery and Software as separate rows, so Northwind can see exactly how much imagery costs on the Website Redesign.
4

A year later, they stop

Bluebird brings imagery in-house. Daniel archives Stock imagery. New expenses cannot use it, but the historical spend stays labelled and reportable.

​
The settings screen

The page is a single All categories card described as “An expense form only offers the active ones.” The empty state reads No categories yet – add your first one above.

​
Permissions

Project Manager is deliberately excluded. Categories are a finance taxonomy, not a delivery one. A PM can approve expenses and manage budgets, but the category list belongs to the money tier. Without the capability the page shows a no-access panel rather than the editor. See roles and capabilities for the full model.

​
Common questions

No. The form only picks from the managed active list. If the list is empty the form tells you: “No categories yet. Add one in Settings → Expense categories.”
Nothing. They keep the category and its name, stay valid, and stay in reports. Archiving only removes the category from the picker.
Not in one action. Rename the one you want to keep, then archive the other. Expenses already filed under the archived one keep their original label.
There is no fixed limit, but a long list slows the expense form down for everyone. Keep it to the cost lines you actually report on.
An invoice line snapshots its description when the invoice is built, so a sent invoice does not change. Reports and the expense log, which read the live category, do.
Because expenses point at it. Deleting it would leave financial history with an unlabelled cost. Archive is the correct retirement.

​
Troubleshooting

Submit an expense

Where the category list is used.

Expenses overview

How expenses fit the wider product.

Expense permissions

Who may manage the taxonomy.

Archive, trash and delete

What archiving really means across TimeTracker.

Apps and modules

Switching the Expenses app on and off.