Billable and Reimbursable Expenses

I need help with this too. I can't find the settings to change it and I need it to still show in my income even though I am being reimbursed. If I use the billable way then it doesn't put it in income. 

I need help with this as well. I can't find a setting to change the "Reimb Group" so that it will still put the income to income even though I'm being reimbursed. Did you ever get any help?

Hello there, @JTS1!

Let me walk you through the steps to change your settings to track billable expenses as income.

To start, here's how you can change your company settings if you're using QuickBooks online:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Under Your Company, choose Accounts and Settings.
3. Select Expenses.
4. Click Bills and expenses.
5. Check the optoin to Track billable expenses and items as income.
6. Hit Save.
7. Click Done.

However, if you're using QuickBooks desktop, here's how:

1. Go to the Edit menu bar.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Choose Time and Expenses.
4. Click Company Preferences.
5. Check the option to Track reimbursed expenses as income.
6. Hit OK.

Once done, you'll be able to track reimbursed or billable expenses as an income.

In addition, I've included a couple of screenshots below for your visual reference.

Let me know if you have any other questions or if you're referring to something. I'll be always around to help.

Thank you!

I have checked the box as shown, but I do not get any options to tell it what account.   My income is still on my P & L as materials expense and my materials income account has no entries.   Currently using Quickbooks Desktop 2016.   I know at one point it was working, but around this time last year it stopped working and I can't figure out why.   Help?

I have checked the box as shown above.  I did this while getting my taxes ready last march and it was working, but now I'm looking and again my materials income is zero and all the reimbursements are offseting my materials expense.   I can't figure out what is wrong.    I tried unclicking the box, saving, and going back and clicking it again.  No change.   It also doesn't offer me the choices shown above about one account or multiple accounts.   Please help?

Hi there, @brownies1476.

Thank you for reaching out to the Community about reimbursable expense as income in QuickBooks. Allow me to help share some insight on why the reimbursements are reflecting in your expense account.

The transactions that show under the income accounts are something that you charge to your customers. Generally, when you record reimbursement, you need to enter a bill first. Since this transaction shows the amount you owe, it will be under your expense account in the P&L report.

When you're ready to charge your customer, you can now create the invoice and apply all the billable costs you incurred. This time, the transaction will show in your income account. 

I've attached some articles for additional reference:

• Understand reports
• Customize company and financial reports

That should take care of it. Drop me a comment below if you have any other questions about reimbursement. I'll be happy to help you out. 

Thank you.    I found my problem.   My "materials expense" account was moved to cost of goods sold - deleting my preferences.

Once I moved Materials expense back to being an actual expense - then within my chart of accounts, I got an option  asking where I'd like the reimbursed income posted.   

After this correction, it asked if I'd like my existing transactions moved and I said yes - and my profit and loss is back to how it belongs.

Note to Quickbooks!   My accountant wants the "expense" shown as Cost of goods sold - but your system doesn't allow me to do that and have proper books!   Also, I was not warned of the confusion (all my income moved to an expense without notice) I created in my P&L when I moved this account to Cost of Goods sold .

Solution:  The 2nd problem was my "materials expense" was reclassified by my accountant as Cost of Goods Sold.   This made the option to mark an income account to associate with reimbursed expenses disappear)  within my chart of accounts, (edit Materials Expense)!   That happened without warning!  (note to Quickbooks - that's not a good thing!!   All my "income" was reclassed to COGS without warning or notification).    I have now edited my account and labelled it as an expense - and I was given a notice to "correct" prior transactions - I said yes - and my income is back.

Note:  As a prior poster mentioned, you must also have a check box in the preferences settings.   I hope I did this right and included both pictures.

Thanks for getting back to us and providing extra details, @brownies1476.

I can share some insights about setting up or modifying accounts in QuickBooks Desktop.

Yes, you're correct. You have the option to move Material expenses to Actual expenses and vice versa. However, once you check the Do not display this message in the future box, the pop-up window will no longer show if you update the account again.

Rest assured we'll take note of your suggestion about having the check box option on the Preferences settings and submit it to the engineers for consideration.

If there's anything else you need or additional questions about accounts, just let me know. I'm still here to help you more. Have a good one.

Is there any way to use the QuickBooks Desktop "Track reimbursed expenses in Income Acct." option with an "Other Income" account?  I have some reimbursable expenses that I wouldn't consider "ordinary" and would like moved to the bottom of the P&L.  If I choose an "Other Income" account I get a warning, "Use an income account to track the money you receive for reimbursable expenses" and am unable to save.

Hi nar883,

Reimbursed expenses represent a cost to the company and personal income to you when you claim them back. You'll want to use the Time and Expense feature to keep tabs and assign them to each of the company's expense accounts. Let me guide you how.

1. Click Edit on the upper menu.
2. Select Preferences. 
3. Choose Time and Expenses.
4. Click the Company Preferences tab. 
5. Select the Track reimbursed expenses as income checkbox, then click the OK.

Now that you've enabled the reimbursable expenses tracking preference, you can select this option for each expense account.

1. Click Lists, then select Chart of Accounts from the drop-down menu.
2. Select an account for which you want to track expenses.
3. Click the Account button at the bottom of the list, then select Edit.
4. Select the Track reimbursed expenses checkbox.
5. Type the name of the account that you wish to use to track the income you receive from reimbursable expenses

I have added these articles for future reference: Income And Expenses.

Reply to this thread if you have any other concerns. I'll be right here to help.

Yes, I already turned on "Track reimbursed expenses" and "Track reimbursed expenses as income".  It's all working as expected, including on the P&L, with an ordinary expense account that then is linked to an ordinary income account.  My question is not how to turn on this feature, but whether there is any way to use an "Other Income" account instead of ordinary income.

Thanks for getting back to us, @nar883

Let me provide additional insights we're to record an Other Income account in QuickBooks. 

Here's how:

1. Go to the List menu.
2. Select Chart of Accounts and click New at the bottom.
3. Select Expense or Other Expense for the Account Type.
4. Fill in the necessary information.
5. Put a check mark in the Track reimbursed expenses in the Income Account box.
6. Select the account in the drop-down arrow. 

I've added a screenshot in the last part for visual reference.

 You can visit our Help articles page it provides topics that might answer your How do I questions.

Please let me know how it goes or if you have further questions about QuickBooks. I'll be here to help. Take care always.

Right, so I've done all this.  After step 6 I click on "Save & Close" and get one of two results:

1. If I had selected an "Income" account in step 6, everything saves correctly and the window closes.
2. If I had selected an "Other Income" account in step 6, I get a warning, "Use an income account to track the money you receive for reimbursable expenses".  When I click OK, I'm back to the "Edit Account" window and nothing saved.

#2 is the issue I'm describing and am wondering if there's any way to get working.

Hi there, @nar883.

At this time, we can only associate a regular Income account when tracking reimbursed expenses. 

I can see how useful it is for you and your business to link the Other Income accounts to track reimbursed expenses. However, what we can consider right now is to link an ordinary Income account to it.

You might want to check out these articles to understand more about the accounts in QuickBooks:

• Understand the chart of accounts in QuickBooks.
• Understand inventory assets and cost of goods sold tracking.

Please touch base with me here for all of your QuickBooks needs, I'm always happy to help. Have a good day.