Business Expense Category Functionality Suggestions

[mom2lfmf]

I do business consulting for an "eat-what-you-kill" firm and have a lot of business development expenses. It is kind of arbitrary whether expenses are put into the various Expense Categories listed, and often I will enter something in one category, and then proceed to the next category and see that I had put that expense into that category the previous year. It would be really great if instead of the two options of either editing or deleting and expense, you need to add an option to move that expense to another expense category and/or have it prompt you that you had previously put that item in another category! 

Right now, it is hard to see if I accidentally put something in one category as well as another! So, it would be great to have a full expense listing sorted by the category that it was assigned to, with the option to reassign it to another category with a picklist, or drag-and-drop sort. 

[MelindaS1]

I'm unclear whether you're referring to QuickBooks or TurboTax Desktop, but I recommend keeping a consistent tracking of your business expenses throughout the year before tax time, and the system you're describing above is usually known as the general ledger expense accounts. The ledger is maintained in QB (or other bookkeping platform), and you would be able to reference your chart of expense accounts before "booking" a current expense. 

A key strategy to avoid IRS scrutiny over business expense deductions is consistency in your reporting.

Learn more about expenses and accounting methods for starting a business (TurboTax FAQ)

[mom2lfmf]

Thanks but I clearly labeled this as related to the TurboTax Premier Online product.

I am not using another accounting package but simply keeping track of my business related expenses to enter into my TurboTax.