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Uncategorized Expense is QuickBooks Online's catchall for transactions imported but never assigned to a real category. A clean book has $0 in this account. Here's how to recategorize what's there and prevent new ones from landing.
The trial balance lists every GL account with its debit or credit balance, proving total debits equal total credits. Here's how to read it, and the troubleshooting framework for when it doesn't balance.
Travel covers airfare, hotels, rental cars, and ground transit while away from your tax home for business. Meals belong in Meals (50% deductible). Mileage belongs in Vehicle Expense. The commute is never deductible at all.
Training and education go to Training & Education Expense, but the deductibility test is sharper than most articles admit. Owner career-change tuition isn't deductible; CPE for licensed pros always is; conferences split across three accounts.
SaaS goes in Software Subscriptions. Memberships and trade publications go in Dues & Subscriptions. Small one-off tools under $50/year go in Office Expenses. Three accounts, one decision tree, no more guessing where Slack goes.
Shipping splits between COGS and Operating Expense based on whether it ties directly to revenue. E-commerce fulfillment is COGS; mailing checks is OpEx. Misclassifying distorts gross margin, sometimes by 10+ points.
Rent and utilities sit in two separate Operating Expense accounts. Home office allocation usually doesn't get its own COA line, security deposits hit Other Assets (not expense), and CAM charges roll into Rent, not Utilities.
Office Supplies are consumables used up in months: paper, pens, coffee, toner. Office Expenses are recurring operational costs like internet, small repairs, and sub-threshold equipment. The consumption test settles it in five seconds.
Meals belong in a 50% deductible expense account. Entertainment belongs in a separate 0% deductible account. For TY2026, OBBBA eliminated employer-convenience meal deductions, so team meal categorization changed too.
Marketing and advertising costs go to Marketing & Advertising Expense, combined or split depending on volume.
The income statement (P&L) reports revenue, expenses, and net income for a period. Here's how to read each section, what it reveals about the business, and how to set up class- and location-based custom P&L views in QBO.
The general ledger is the master record of every transaction posted to every account. It feeds the trial balance, which feeds the financial statements. Here's how the GL actually works in QBO and why bookkeepers care about it.