# Expense accounts

> The expense categories OneBooks ships with, how to add your own in the chart of accounts, and how they appear on the profit and loss.

Canonical: https://docs.getonebooks.com/expenses/accounts/
Language: en
Documentation index: https://docs.getonebooks.com/llms.txt

Every expense is filed under an **expense account** — the category picker in the expense dialog lists exactly the expense-type accounts in your chart of accounts. The profit and loss groups your spending by these accounts.

![The category picker in the Record Expense dialog listing expense accounts](https://docs.getonebooks.com/screenshots/en/expenses-account-picker.webp)

## Default categories

| Code | Account | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 5000 | Cost of Goods Sold | Goods bought for resale (used by purchases by default). |
| 5100 | Salaries & Wages | Staff pay. |
| 5200 | Rent & Utilities | Premises, electricity, water, internet. |
| 5300 | Marketing & Advertising | Ads, printing, promotions. |
| 5400 | Office Supplies | Stationery and consumables. |
| 5500 | Professional Services | Accountants, lawyers, consultants. |
| 5600 | Travel & Transportation | Fuel, taxis, flights, deliveries. |
| 5700 | Insurance | Policies and premiums. |
| 5800 | Depreciation | Manual depreciation entries. |
| 5900 | Other Expenses | Anything that fits nowhere else. |
| 5950 | Bad Debt Expense | Written-off invoices (posted by the write-off action). |

## Add your own category

1. Switch to Accountant mode and open **Accounting → Chart of Accounts**.
2. Select **New Account**, choose type **Expense**, give it a code in the 5xxx range and a name (for example **5210 Software subscriptions**).
3. Optionally pick a **parent** account to nest it under an existing category.
4. Select **Save**. The account is available in the expense dialog immediately.

![The Chart of Accounts filtered to expense accounts](https://docs.getonebooks.com/screenshots/en/accounting-chart-expense-accounts.webp)

## Archive a category

Archiving an account removes it from pickers without deleting history; expenses already filed under it stay on the reports. See [Chart of accounts](https://docs.getonebooks.com/accounting/chart-of-accounts/).

## Related

  - [Chart of accounts](https://docs.getonebooks.com/accounting/chart-of-accounts/)
  - [Profit and loss](https://docs.getonebooks.com/reports/profit-loss/)