Expense categories¶
Odoo Expenses streamlines the management of expenses. After an employee logs their expenses and submits their expense report in Odoo, expenses are reviewed by management and accounting teams. Once approved, payments can be processed and disbursed back to the employee for reimbursement.
See also
View expense categories¶
The first step to track expenses is configuring the different types of expenses for the company (managed as expense categories in Odoo). Each category can be as specific or generalized as needed. Additionally, expense categories can be configured to repay expenses at either a set price or allow for specific prices to be reported.
To view the default expense categories, navigate to .
The default expense categories allow creating expenses for common expenses, including communication costs, meals, gifts, miles driven, and other travel expenses. For expenses outside these default categories, the general expenses category, EXP_GEN, is used. If a company has specific expenses it commonly reimburses, and wants to track them separately, new expense categories can be made or existing expense categories can be modified.
Create new expense categories¶
Some companies require more expense categories than the Expenses app includes. For these situations, new expense categories can be created.
Example
A company that trains car mechanics allows its technicians to purchase $500 worth of tools in a
year. In this situation, the company creates a new category called TOOLS to track all tool
expenses.
To create a new expense category, navigate to . Click New, and a new expense category form loads.
Note
Expense categories are managed like products in Odoo. The expense category form follows the standard product form in Odoo, and the information entered is similar. Expense products are referred to as expense categories throughout this document since the main menu refers to these as Expense Categories.
Enter the following fields on the form:
Product Name: Enter a name for the category that is short and informative.
Cost: If employees can report the actual cost of an expense, and are reimbursed the reported amount, leave the field set to
0.00. If the expense should always be reimbursed for a specific price, enter the amount in this field. If a price is entered, a per field appears with Unit populated by default. Unit covers most expense situations, but if the reimbursement is based on weight, length, volume, etc., choose the corresponding type of unit using the drop-down menu.Example
Here are some examples for when to set a specific Cost on a product vs. leaving the Cost at
0.00:Meals: If employees are reimbursed for their full meal cost, set the Cost to
0.00. When an employee logs an expense for a meal, they enter the actual amount of the bill and are reimbursed for that amount. An expense for a meal costing $95.23 would equal a reimbursement of $95.23.Mileage: If employees receive a flat rate for each mile they drive, set the Cost to
1.00. When an employee logs an expense for the miles driven, they enter the number of miles driven in the Quantity field, and are reimbursed $1.00 per mile they reported. An expense for 100 miles would equal a reimbursement of $100.00.Per Diem: If employees receive a daily flat rate of $125.00 when traveling, set the Cost to
125.00. An expense for three days of per diem costs (meals, incidentals, taxi fare, etc.) would equal a reimbursement of $375.00.
Note
The Cost field is always visible on the expense category form, but the Sales Price field is only visible if the Sales Price is selected under the Re-Invoice Expenses section. Otherwise, the Sales Price field is hidden.
Reference: Enter a short reference for the expense, such as
FOODorTRAVEL. This reference is used when emailing expenses.Category: Using the drop-down menu, select the category the expense falls under. It is recommended to use the default category
All / Expenses, but another category can be selected if the accounting department requires it.Company: If in a multi-company database, select the company the expense category applies to. If the expense category applies to all companies, leave this field blank.
Guideline: Enter some rules or important information for the expense category. This is visible in the Note column on the Expense Category dashboard.
Example
An expense category for expenses related to working from home may have a Name of
WFH, and the Guideline may sayMonitors, Chairs, & Other Home Working Costs.Expense Account: If using the Odoo Accounting app, select the CoA the expense should be logged on.
Important
Check with the accounting department to determine the correct account to reference in this field as it affects various reports.
Purchase Taxes and Sales Taxes: Enter the default taxes that are applied when purchasing or selling this product, if applicable.
Note
The Sales Taxes field is only visible if the Sales app is installed, and either the At cost or Sales Price options are selected in the invoicing section.
Tip
It is considered good practice to use a tax that is configured with Tax Included in Price. Taxes are automatically configured if these are set.
Invoicing section¶
If the Sales app is installed, an invoicing section is visible. This section allows the expense to be reinvoiced to customers on sales orders.
If the expense cannot be reinvoiced, enable the No option. If the expense category can be reinvoiced, enable either of these options:
At cost: Select this option to have the expense item reinvoiced at the price set in the Cost field.
Sales Price: Select this option to have the expense item reinvoiced at the sales price. When enabled, a Sales Price field appears beneath the Product Name field. Enter the sales price in the new field.
Example
A heating and cooling company offers at-home repairs on the furnaces and central air units it sells. Their technicians are sub-contracted, and use their own vans, tools, and parts.
As part of their contracts, technicians are reimbursed for their travel. They receive $1.00 for every mile they drive. Additionally, the customer must pay for the travel as part of their service contract. The customer pays $1.50 for every mile the technician drives to their location.
To configure this expense, the Sales Price is set to
1.50and the Cost is set to1.00.
