Expenses
Expenses allow you to record business costs such as rent, utilities, fuel, internet, office supplies, subscriptions, salaries, and other operating expenses.
Expenses are automatically posted to your accounts, support tax tracking, and can be linked to suppliers, projects, employees, and business locations.
Creating an Expense
Go to Operations → Expenses.
Click Add Expense.
Complete the expense details.
Click Create Expense.
Expense Details
Location
Select the business location the expense belongs to.
Expense Name
Enter a descriptive name for the expense.
Examples:
Electricity Bill
Office Rent
Fuel
Internet Subscription
Automatic Expense Classification
As you enter the expense name, IsleBooks automatically suggests the most appropriate expense account based on similar expenses you've previously recorded.
For example:
Dhiraagu Bill → 6022 Utilities – Internet & Phone
The suggested account can be changed manually if required.
This helps maintain consistent accounting classifications while reducing data entry.
Cost Centre (Optional)
Assign the expense to a cost centre for departmental or project reporting.
Project (Optional)
Associate the expense with a project if applicable.
Supplier (Optional)
Select the supplier or vendor related to the expense.
Example:
Dhiraagu
STELCO
Cloudflare
Reference / Invoice Number
Enter the supplier invoice number or other reference.
If left blank, IsleBooks automatically generates one.
Date
Select the expense date.
Reimbursable Employee (Optional)
Assign the expense to an employee if it should be reimbursed later.
Cost Before Tax
Enter the expense amount before tax.
Tax Class
Select the applicable tax rate.
If the expense qualifies for input tax recovery, IsleBooks automatically calculates the estimated recoverable tax.
Total (Including Tax)
Enter the total amount paid, including tax.
Tax Deductible
Enable this option if the expense is tax deductible.
Recurring Template
Enable this option when creating a recurring expense template.
Recurring templates can be used for expenses such as:
Monthly Rent
Internet
Insurance
Software Subscriptions
Receipts
Attach one or more supporting documents.
Examples include:
Supplier invoices
Receipts
Payment confirmations
PDF invoices
Photos
Multiple files can be attached to the same expense.
Notes
Add any internal notes relating to the expense.
Initial Payment
You can record the payment while creating the expense.
Enter:
Paid Amount
Payment Method
Paid From (Payment Account)
If the expense is unpaid, leave the Paid Amount as 0.
Expense Status
Expenses are automatically assigned a payment status.
Possible statuses include:
Paid
Partial
Due
Overdue
Managing Expenses
All recorded expenses can be viewed from:
Operations → Expenses
From the Actions menu you can:
Pay outstanding balances
View payment history
Edit the expense
View the audit trail
Void the expense
Audit Trail
Every expense maintains a complete audit history.
The Audit Trail records actions such as:
Expense creation
Edits
Payments
Voiding
User activity
Dates and times
This provides complete accountability and simplifies auditing.
Voiding an Expense
If an expense was created by mistake, use Void instead of deleting it.
Voiding:
Preserves the original transaction.
Reverses the accounting impact.
Maintains a complete audit trail.
Prevents loss of historical records.
For accounting integrity, voiding is recommended over deleting posted expenses.
Best Practices
Record expenses as soon as they occur.
Attach receipts or supplier invoices whenever possible.
Use the suggested expense classification to maintain consistent accounting.
Assign suppliers and projects where applicable.
Use Void instead of deleting expenses that have already been recorded.
Review the Audit Trail whenever changes need to be verified.