What category does education or professional development fall under?

Thanks for posting here, benmiftari.

I'd like to share some helpful information about categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE).

While we're not able to provide which category to use for a specific transaction, allow me to share a list of categories that you can choose from. 

For the list of categories that best fit for education or professional development, please refer to these articles:

• Schedule C and expense categories in QBSE.
• Categorize transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed.
  
  

Given all the information, I'd still recommend consulting an accountant to help and guide how to record these transactions. Your accountant can provide more expert advice in dealing with this concern.

If you need additional references for future tasks, you can check out these helpful links: 

• QuickBooks Self-Employed Overview.
• List of our articles.

The Community is always open if you have other questions about categorizing transactions. I'll be around to help. Wishing you a great day ahead!

Hi, benmiftari.

Hope you’re doing great. I wanted to see how everything is going about categorizing educational or professional development that you had the other day. Was it resolved? Do you need any additional help or clarification? If you do, just let me know. I’d be happy to help you at any time.

Looking forward to your reply. Have a pleasant day ahead!

Hello

I am looking for the answer to how to categorize education and professional development on my QB. Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks for joining this thread, @AesthA.

As mentioned by my colleague, we're unable to provide accounting advice such as telling what category to use in your transactions. In that way, I'd suggest contacting your account to ensure the accuracy of your books.

You can also visit the Find-a-ProAdvisor website and look for an accountant or bookkeeper within your area that can help and advise you about accounting matters. All you need to do is click on the envelope icon from their profile to send them a message.

Here are the detailed steps:

1. Open this link: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/find-an-accountant/.
2. Select what types of experts you want by checking the boxes beside the available options.
3. Enter your city or zip code from the field provided, then click Search.
4. Tap on the message icon under the Offers Free Consultation button to message the expert.

Once done, provide the list of categories to your accountant, so they have a better picture of what best for education or professional development. Also, the categories in QBSE are patterned after the Schedule C categories provided by the IRS. This way, we can ensure your transactions are accurate in the program. 

Then the chosen category may appear on your Schedule C-related reports in the software. These are Profit & Loss, Tax Summary, or Tax Details report. To learn more about where to locate them during tax time, visit this article: Schedule C Categories Breakdown And Their Related Reports. 

Do you have other questions in mind? Feel free to leave them below and I'll make sure to get back to you as quickly as I can.

How is it that Quickbooks Self-Employed doesn't have a category for continuing education? It's a significant expense category for people in professional services.

Hi, this reply is pretty weak. My question arose because I read a Quickbooks article that specifically states that education and professional development are deductible. However, your system does not have a category for it. So in replying with a “we don’t give tax advice” is so weak and way off brand. So explain to me the solution to this dilemma that Quickbooks itself has created? Riddle me that.

I was able to find a sub-category for "Continuing Education" under "General Business Expenses"

Late to the party here, but is that the same as professional development?

I don't see General Business Expenses anywhere

Hi, Mayan.

When you categorize transactions using this General Business Expenses option, they'll show up as business expenses. For specific categories, we're unable to provide which expense category to use for a specific transaction. But I can share a list of categories that you can choose from. Please check schedule C and expense categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed for more details.

However, since every business structure is unique, I suggest consulting a tax expert to ensure your records are in shipshape. They can provide suggestions on how to properly handle categories to use for the specific transaction.

You can also create and manage category rules to quickly categorize common expenses and income.

Please know that you're always welcome to post if you have any other concerns managing your expense transactions. I'm always here to help.

I'm not sure this is referring to QB Self-Employed. I don't see a "General Business Expenses" category in the list of options. 

Joining you here to help with your questions about expense categories, badmktg.

QuickBooks Self-Employed does not have a General Expenses Category in the list of expenses in Schedule C. 

The other user who suggested it might be using QuickBooks Online. This can be the reason why they were able to see General Expenses since it can be set up in QBO. 

For QuickBooks Self-Employed, you can use Other business expenses for the meantime. You can use this for other business expenses to temporarily categorize tricky transactions. Then, reach out to your accountant to check what specific expense you'll be selecting for continuing education. 

Let me share this article for more details: Schedule C and Expense Categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed.

Additional guidance and references when categorizing transactions are also shared in these articles:

• Updates to Expense Categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed 
• Custom Categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed 

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you're able to categorize the transaction in QBSE. You can also post more questions if you need anything else from us. 

As others have already pointed out, continuing education (or professional development or whatever you want to call it) is a standard expense category and should not be just called "Other business expenses". Supposedly, when it comes to filing a tax return, QuickBooks self-employed has all the data ready. But with this kind of clunky setup, I see trouble ahead. Please add the appropriate category asap.

Hey Intuit Quickbooks: Stop pretending like continuing education expenses are "tricky to categorize." 

Professional development is a commonly known expense that's supposed to be tax deductible!

Try improving your software and mobile app for a change!

Hello everyone!

We can imagine how hard this situation is for all of you. Please know that we're doing everything we can to resolve the issue to ensure all of our customers have the best possible experience in QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE).

The categories we have in QBSE are in line with the Schedule C categories the IRS has for self-employed individuals. So currently, you can't create custom categories in QBSE. We're researching how we could approach dynamic categories while maintaining their main use as tax categories for tax forms. We need to do both to ensure your estimated taxes are accurate.

You can select the closest account if you can't find the exact category for your transactions. Also, you'll need to consult with your tax advisor to help you choose an account for that specific transaction. That way, you can avoid messing up your account since they know what's best for your business. If you’re not affiliated with one, you can check our ProAdvisor page to help find one from there.

Please check these articles for more details on categorizing transactions:

• Schedule C and expense categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed
• Categorize transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed
• Updates to expense categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed

Let me know if you still have questions about categories in QBSE by leaving a reply below. Take care, and have a wonderful day!

Hi @Charies_M I understand that you cannot give advice about a specific transaction. You stated "we're unable to provide which expense category to use for a specific transaction." and I understand that. Perhaps the question could be answered if it was phrased as "Generally, what categories might one use for expenses that have to do with continuing education fees? I am not asking about a specific transaction, but would like you to get me in the ballpark of where I should look." Does that allow you to provide an answer that the rest of us might find helpful?

Hello @jenop2 thanks for the info! I checked the Schedule C and Expense Categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed.article that you linked and it seems to me that something like continuing education would be a category under the "Contract & professional fees" heading. The Schedule C article described several types of consultation fees as fitting under that grouping. My rationale is that if a consultant provides information, then maybe education would also fit as something that provides information. I'm planning to create a new "Education and Training" category under the "Legal & Professional Fees" tax form section. Do you think that makes sense, or is there a better solution?

Hello there, @TomG92.

I appreciate you for checking the article provided by my colleague, and I understand the importance of entering the correct categories for your transaction in QuickBooks Self-employed (QBSE).

As my colleague mentioned above, if you can't locate the exact category for your transactions, you can select the closest account. However, I would strongly recommend seeking the assistance of a tax advisor to help you identify the correct category for your transactions.

Moreover, I'm adding this helpful article as your reference in using rules to categorize your recent and past transactions in QBSE: Create rules to speed up reviews in QuickBooks Self-Employed.

Return to this post if you have other concerns about categorizing your transactions in QBSE. The Community is here to help.