Manage expense categories
Categories are the vocabulary of your cost side. The built-in set covers the usual heads; your own leaves cover what’s specific to your operation - and each carries a cost behavior that break-even depends on.
Add a category
Section titled “Add a category”-
On Expenses, click “Manage categories.” System categories are built in - switch them on or off with Activate / Deactivate; they can’t be deleted.
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Name your new category and give it a key (lowercase letters, digits and underscores - e.g.
generator_fuel). -
Pick the account class it maps to. Every category posts to a fixed account class in the chart of accounts, so the books stay structured no matter what you name the leaf.
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Choose the cost behavior - Fixed or Variable - and click Add category.
Why cost behavior matters
Section titled “Why cost behavior matters”Fixed costs stay flat each month (rent, salaries, software); variable costs move with occupancy (cleaning, supplies, fees). The break-even analysis splits your spend on exactly this flag: fixed costs form the monthly nut you must cover, variable costs scale with each occupied night. The Expenses page’s Fixed / Variable tiles and the cost behavior donut read from the same flag.
Deactivate, don’t delete
Section titled “Deactivate, don’t delete”A category you stop using is deactivated: it disappears from the record dialog’s picker but every historical expense keeps its category and stays reported. Reactivate it any time.