Introduction to categories
Setting up categories is essential to allow employees to code expenses based on your general ledger. You can set up a list of categories for your organization and employees can choose the correct category from this list while coding any expense.
Add categories
You can add the list of categories for your organization in Admin Settings > Organization > Categories. Employees can choose the correct category from this list of categories while coding an expense form.
Add a single category
Click on Add Category.
Fill in the the details of the category you want to add.
After filling all the mandatory fields, click on Add Category to confirm the action.
Add categories in bulk
Click on the dropdown next to Add Category. Click on Bulk Add Categories.
Click on Download Template. This will download an Excel file to your computer.
Fill in the template with the categories' details. Upload the file on the same screen by clicking on Upload File.
Import categories from your accounting software
Fyle offers 2-way integrations with most popular accounting software including Quickbooks Online, Sage Intacct, Netsuite and Xero. You can automatically import categories from any of these accounting software using the integration with Fyle.
Add sub categories
For any category in your organization, you can add multiple sub categories under it. Sub categories can be set up, used, disabled and deleted in the same way as categories.
To create a sub category, click on Add Sub Category on the parent category.
Sub categories appear along with the parent category name in the expense form. For example, for category Travel and sub category Meals, your employees will see Travel/Meals as an option in the categories field while filling an expense form.
Disable or delete categories
If you are no longer using a category, you can disable or delete it from your organization.
If a category has never been used in an expense, you can select it and click on Delete to delete it. This will completely remove the category from your organization.
If a category has been used in any expense, you can select it and click on Disable to disable it. This will remove the category from the enabled categories list in your organization.
You can also select multiple categories to disable or delete them in bulk.
Restrict allowed categories for different employees
You can enable restrictions to allow each employee to use different lists of categories for their expenses. For example, you can restrict John to be able to use categories Airlines, Per Diem and Office Supplies for his expenses, and Ginny to use categories Office Supplies, Accounting Software and Food for her expenses.
Enabling these restrictions ensures that each employee sees only the relevant categories for them and improves their efficiency in correctly coding expenses.
You can enable or disable restrictions on allowed categories for different employees using the Restrict employees to their own categories toggle.
When enabled, you can select the allowed categories for each employee from the Manage Employees page. While coding expenses, each employee will only be able to choose categories from the categories allowed for them.
When disabled, each employee will be able to see all categories from your organization while coding expenses.
Find a category using search and filters
Fyle makes it easy to find any category in your long list of categories in many ways:
Toggle between enabled and disabled categories:
By default, Fyle only shows enabled categories. You can easily toggle between enabled and disabled categories. You can also view the complete list of all categories by removing unselecting both the options.
Search:
You can type in any category name in the search bar and Fyle shows all matching options (within any filters already applied.)
Filters:
Fyle allows you to filter categories based on name, enabled/disabled state and associated system category.
Troubleshooting for cases when a category cannot be deleted
Fyle only allows you to delete categories that are not in use in your Fyle account. When you try to delete a category that is in use, you will see a message indicating that the selected category is in use in your Fyle account.
For example, if you are trying to delete the category Computers, but are unable to do so, you can use the following steps to check where category Computers is being used:
Check if the category is linked to any Expense.
Go to the Business Expenses page and search for any expenses linked to category Computers.
If the category is in use, it is not recommended to delete it.
However, if you want to proceed with deleting it anyway, change the category of the corresponding expenses from the Business Expenses page.
Check if the category is being used in any Policy.
Go to Admin Settings > Expenses > Policies and determine whether the category Computers is being used in any policy.
If the category is in use, it is not recommended to delete it.
However, if you want to proceed with deleting it anyway, remove the category from any expense policy(s). This will impact how the policy(s) works for all future expenses.
Check if the category is being used in any Expense Rule.
Go to Admin Settings > Expenses > Expense Rules and determine whether the category Computers is being used in any policy.
If the category is in use, it is not recommended to delete it.
However, if you want to proceed with deleting it anyway, remove the category from any expense policy(s). This will impact how the policy(s) works for all future expenses.
Check if the category is being used in any Budget.
Go to Admin Settings > Expenses > Budget and determine whether the category Computers is being used in any budget.
If the category is in use, it is not recommended to delete it.
However, if you want to proceed with deleting it anyway, remove the category from any budget(s). This will impact how the budget(s) is being calculated.
Once you have completed the above checks, you can proceed to delete the category.