Record and categorize business expenses in Aczen Bilz

Record, categorize, and analyze every business expense in Aczen Bilz. Attach receipts, capture bills with OCR, and keep your GST input tax credits organized.

The Expenses module is your central log for every rupee your business spends. Whether you are paying rent, buying office supplies, or reimbursing travel, each entry is categorized, GST-tagged, and posted to your ledger — so your books stay current without manual journal work.

Adding an expense

1. Open Expenses

   Go to Finance & Payments → Expenses in the left sidebar.

2. Click Add Expense

   Select Add Expense in the top-right corner. A form opens in a side panel.

3. Fill in the details

   Complete the required fields:

   Field	Notes
   Expense Date	Date the expense was incurred
   Vendor	Select from your vendor list or type a name directly
   Category	Choose from the pre-built list or enter a custom category
   Description	Brief note about what the expense was for
   Amount	Pre-tax amount
   Payment Mode	Cash, Bank, Credit Card, Debit Card, UPI, or Cheque

4. Add GST details (optional)

   Enter the Tax Amount if the expense includes GST. Aczen Bilz records this as input tax and posts it to your Input Tax account for ITC claims.

5. Add optional fields

   Fill in any of the following if relevant:

   • Reference Number — bank transaction ID, UTR, or similar
   • Bill Number — the vendor’s invoice number
   • Notes — internal comments
6. Save

   Click Save. The expense is assigned a unique number in the format EXP/YYYY/0001 and added to your expense list with a Pending status.

Expenses linked to a vendor and paid via Bank, Cheque, or similar non-cash modes appear automatically in Payables until they are marked as settled.

Expense categories

Aczen Bilz ships with a standard set of categories covering most SMB spending:

Office & Admin

Office Rent, Office Supplies, Printing & Stationery, Bank Charges

Operations

Fuel & Transportation, Utilities, Repairs & Maintenance, Insurance

People & Growth

Salaries, Professional Fees, Training & Development, Travel & Accommodation

Marketing

Advertising & Marketing, Entertainment

Technology

Software & Subscriptions, Communication

Other

Miscellaneous — for anything that does not fit a specific category

You can also type a custom category name directly in the expense form. Custom categories are saved and available for future entries.

Bulk import via CSV

If you have a backlog of expenses in a spreadsheet, import them all at once.

1. Open the import dialog

   Click the Import button at the top of the Expenses page.

2. Download the template

   Use the provided CSV template to format your data. Required columns are: vendor_name, expense_date, category_name, description, amount, and payment_mode.

3. Upload your file

   Select your completed CSV or Excel file and click Import. Aczen Bilz validates each row and shows you a preview before saving.

4. Review and confirm

   Check the row count, fix any validation errors, then click Confirm Import. Successfully imported expenses appear in your list immediately.

Accepted values for payment_mode in the CSV are: cash, bank, credit_card, debit_card, upi, cheque. Any other value defaults to bank.

OCR receipt capture

The OCR Capture tab lets you photograph or upload a bill image. Aczen Bilz reads the vendor name, date, and amount from the image and pre-fills the expense form for you. Review the extracted values, correct anything the OCR missed, and save.

This feature is available on all plans. Accuracy improves when the receipt is clear and well-lit.

Recurring expenses

For expenses that repeat on a fixed schedule — such as rent, SaaS subscriptions, or retainer fees — set them up once as recurring entries.

Click Add Recurring in the toolbar, then define the frequency (monthly, quarterly, etc.), start date, and end date. Aczen Bilz creates the expense entry automatically on each due date so you never miss a booking.

Your recurring expenses are listed under the Recurring tab on the Expenses page.

Mileage tracking

Use the Mileage tab to log business travel by distance. Enter the starting point, destination, distance in kilometres, and the applicable per-km rate. Aczen Bilz calculates the expense amount and opens the standard expense form with the travel details pre-filled.

Filtering and searching expenses

Use the Filters button to narrow the expense list by:

• Date range
• Category
• Vendor
• Payment mode
• Status (Pending, Approved, Posted)

You can also type in the search bar to find expenses by vendor name or description. Active filters are highlighted with a dot indicator on the Filters button. Click Clear Filters to reset.

Expense analytics and reports

Analytics tab

The Analytics tab shows summary cards for total expenses, total amount, tax amount, and your top spending category this month. Drill down by category to see how your budget is distributed.

Charts tab

The Charts tab shows a visual breakdown of spending by category and a monthly trend line. Use this to spot seasonal spikes or categories that are growing unexpectedly.

Exporting expenses

Click Export to download your current filtered view as a CSV file. The export includes expense number, date, vendor, category, description, amount, tax amount, total, payment mode, reference number, bill number, and status.

The filename is dated automatically: Expenses_Report_YYYY-MM-DD.csv.

Expense statuses

Pending

The expense has been recorded but not yet reviewed or posted to the ledger.

Approved

The expense has been reviewed and approved for payment.

Posted

The expense has been posted to your ledger as a journal entry. The accounting entry debits the expense account and credits the payment account (cash, bank, or credit card).

Rejected

The expense was reviewed and rejected. It remains in the list for reference but does not affect your books.