What makes an expense and expense? Is it the Expense Transaction Type, an Expense Account Type, both, or something else?

An expense is any expenditure that reduces equity or cash on hand. Not all expenditures are deductible expenses.  You might record a loan payment as being an expense but only the interest portion is tax deductible 

Hello John-

Thank you for the reply!  My question is more technical than procedural.  In QBO, what technically makes an expense an expense.

1.  If I post a non-expense transaction in an expense account, will it be treated by QBO as an expense (for example on the P&L statement)?

2.  Vice-versa, if I post an expense transaction in a non-expense account, will it be treated by QBO as an expense?

Thanks again.

It's nice to have you back here, dan-gonzales.

I'm here to provide additional insights about expenses in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Expense transaction can only be treated as expense when an appropriate Expense Account  is selected/used. We can easily find out if we've entered expenses to the wrong account in QuickBook by reviewing your transactions. 

In QuickBooks, we can easily view all the expenses entered in QBO by going to the Expenses menu. I'd be glad to walk you through on how expenses were categorized in QBO. Here's how:

1. From the Expenses tab, select Expenses.
2. Click the Filter drop-down arrow, and select Expense in the Type drop-down.
3. Click Apply.

Another way is from the Vendors tab.

1. From the Expenses tab, select Vendors
2. Select the vendor's name.
3. Click the Filter drop-down arrow, and select Expense in the Type drop-down.
4. Click Apply.

I'm including these articles for your reference:

• How to record expenses in QuickBooks
• Find, review, and edit transactions in account registers

Please let me know if you have other QuickBooks concerns. I'll be happy to assist.