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Categorise transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed

by Intuit•50• Updated a day ago

Learn how to categorise the transactions you download from your bank or enter into QuickBooks.

Tip: Stay ahead of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax mandate. Migrate to QuickBooks Sole Trader or upgrade to QuickBooks Online and uncover a variety of features including income tax management, app integration, CIS for contractors, and more. Make the switch today.

Each time you put a transaction into QuickBooks, you need to categorise it. This includes transactions you download from an online bank account or enter manually.

Categorise a transaction

On a web browser

  1. Go to the Transactions menu.
  2. Find a transaction on the list.
  3. Select Business if the transaction was for business, or select Personal for personal. If the transaction was both, select Split.
  4. Review the category in the Category column. QuickBooks tries to categorise transactions for you.
  5. If you need to change the category, select the category link. Select a general type, and choose a more detailed category.

    See an example

    If you want to add a gas charge, select Vehicle and then Gas and fuel.

  6. When you're done, select Save.

On an iPhone or iPad (iOS) or an Android phone or tablet

  1. If you're on an iOS device, go to the Transactions menu. If you're on an Android device, select the menu ☰ icon and then Transactions.
  2. Find a transaction on the list.
  3. Swipe left to categorise it as Business or right for Personal. If the transaction is a mix of both, select the transaction and then select Split.
  4. As you swipe, review the category QuickBooks selected in the banner. If you need to change the category, select the category link. Then choose a new category.

Tip: You can create and manage category rules to quickly categorise common expenses and income.

Your personal and business income and expenses may be in the same accounts you connect for online banking. QuickBooks Self-Employed makes it easy to separate your personal income and expenses. This makes sure the right money is included in financial reports.

Expenses

Negative transactions on the Transactions menu are expenses. You can mark expenses as Business or Personal.

Business income

Positive transactions on the Transactions menu are income. You should mark income from your self-employed business as Business.

QuickBooks includes business income when it calculates your estimated taxes. It also shows up on your financial reports. So, you should only categorise money that comes from self-employed work as business.

This includes receipts or sales. Other types of business income include any bad debts you recovered (if they were written off on prior-year tax returns) and interest from business bank accounts.

Personal income

You should mark income that's not part of your self-employed business as Personal.

You should categorise all money that's not part of your self-employed work as personal. This includes income from others who share your bank accounts.

Personal transactions and deposits, such as regular payroll payments from an employer (as long as it has taxes taken out), should be marked as Personal.

See an example

Still not sure what counts as business income? Here's an example:

  • Let's say you have a "regular" type day job. Your day job gives you a payroll payment every 2 weeks. It already has taxes and other deductions taken from it.
  • You also work nights and weekends as a personal chef. Your chef job pays you per job, in full, without any deductions.

Your day job is personal income. Your chef job is business income since it's from self-employed work.

Edit or recategorise a transaction

On a web browser

  1. Go to the Transactions menu.
  2. Find the transaction you want to edit.
  3. Select the ▼ icon to expand the transaction.
  4. Edit the transaction name, add notes, or attach a receipt.
  5. To change the category, select the link in the Type or Category column, then select a new category.
  6. When you're done, select Save.

On an iPhone or iPad (iOS) or an Android phone or tablet

  1. If you're on an iOS device, go to the Transactions menu. If you're on an Android device, select the menu ☰ icon and then Transactions.
  2. Select the Reviewed tab.
  3. Select the transaction you want to edit.
  4. Select Edit.
  5. Change the details or category.
  6. When you're done, select Save.
QuickBooks Self-Employed