Choose an expense classification

A classification tells Office how an expense should be recorded. It may include accounting accounts and recognition settings prepared by your bookkeeper.

Classify an expense

1. Open the expense.
2. Search the classification picker for the relevant category.
3. Select the classification that fits the document.
4. Review the amounts and any posting explanation shown.
5. Save and continue the approval flow.

The classification is missing

Ask the person responsible for bookkeeping to check the client’s Expense classifications. Do not choose an unrelated category just to make an error disappear.

For the bookkeeper

In the client file, Bookkeeping → Expense classifications is a table of every classification. Filter by name or status, or choose New classification. Opening a row shows the detail page: name, transaction type, and how variable accounts are resolved. Saving stays on the detail page; deleting returns to the table.

The client’s Expense classifications tab lists the same classifications, including a Form 6111 line column taken from each expense card. Clicking a row opens the classification editor in a side panel, so you stay on the table. At the bottom of the editor, Account cards used by this classification lists the cards it posts to: change the Form 6111 line there, or choose Edit card to update the name, sort code, and other card details. Such a change is saved to the card itself right away, so it applies to every classification and posting that uses the card.

Below the table, Other income types lists the other-income types (grants, interest) recorded in SmartBill. Each type is credited to the income card shown next to it: until you choose one, the card whose key matches the type’s key, or Unmapped type when there is none. Choosing a card applies to every unposted income of that type and is kept on later syncs.

Transaction types work the same way: a table of every recipe, then a detail page for the code, name, and debit/credit lines. Changing percentages or account mappings changes how future work is recorded.

In Office settings, Book templates are model files whose structure (sort codes, ledger cards, transaction types, and expense classifications) is copied into new clients. Check that a template suits this client’s bookkeeping method before using it.

Add starter templates adds complete templates by kind of business: licensed dealer, exempt dealer and limited company. What is inside? shows the classifications, cards and transaction types before you add one. A kind of business your office already has a template for is marked Already in your office and is not added again. Once added, edit the template like any other; only admins and owners can add them.

When you open a new client and choose Start from defaults or a copy, the structure source is preselected by the client’s entity type: the template for that type if there is one, otherwise the default template for the bookkeeping method. You can pick another source before creating.