Expense Management: Tracking, Policies and Deductions
Billed publishes these expense management articles. They're grouped by what you're trying to do, with a line on what each one covers.
The tax and reimbursement articles follow US IRS rules. If you file elsewhere, ask your accountant which rules apply.
Tracking and organizing expenses
Recording what you spend and keeping the records together.
- Expense tracking for small business
Using a separate business account, recording each expense when you pay it, keeping the proof with the entry, a monthly check against your statements, and how long to keep records.
- Business expense categories
Setting up categories that follow the expense lines on IRS Schedule C, keeping business and personal spending apart, and a month of expenses sorted into categories.
- Tracking business mileage
What the IRS says a mileage log must show, the standard mileage rate or actual expenses, how commuting, parking and tolls are treated, and a sample log.
- Petty cash management
Setting up a petty cash fund, the controls and journal entries, a month-end reconciliation, and when petty cash is the wrong tool.
- Business credit card or debit card
Where the money comes from with each card, what US federal rules say about unauthorized use, keeping records, and what to check before you choose.
Expense tracking tools
Apps and software for recording expenses.
- Expense tracking apps for freelancers
Expense tracking apps freelancers use, described from each vendor's own website, plus what the IRS says to keep for receipts and mileage.
- Automatic expense trackers
The topic of software that records business expenses automatically.
- Creating an expense in Billed
The ways to start an expense, the details each one holds, billable expenses with markup, and editing, duplicating or deleting an expense.
Expense policies and reimbursement
Setting spending rules and paying employees back.
- Creating an expense policy
What the policy covers, spending limits and approval tiers, receipts and deadlines, how long records are kept, exceptions, and a sample policy applied.
- Employee reimbursement policies
Accountable plans in the US, what counts as a reasonable period of time, what employees must submit, approval and payment, and settling a travel advance.
- Setting up expense reimbursement
Writing the policy, collecting expense reports and receipts, approving, paying and recording, and tracking advances, with US accountable plan rules and a worked example.
Deductions and tax records (US)
What the IRS lets a business deduct, and the records to keep.
- Tax deductible business expenses checklist
The ordinary-and-necessary test, what you can and can't deduct under IRS publications, the limits for meals, gifts, mileage and section 179, and the records to keep.
- Claiming home office expenses
Who qualifies under IRS Publication 587, the use tests, the simplified method or actual expenses, choosing a method each year, and the records to keep.
Business finance basics
How a business records money paid in advance and plans its spending.
- Advance payments
How the seller records unearned revenue, how the buyer records a prepaid expense, deposits and retainers, and a three-month advance recorded by both sides.
- Corporate financial management
The three areas of business finance, who handles them, planning, budgeting and forecasting, and a sample cash budget.