Record an expense

Enter a bill or purchase from a vendor with its total, tax and category so it shows in your books, and void one that was entered by mistake.

In the sidebar, open Bookkeeping, then Expenses. The page address is /bookkeeping/expenses. A new expense opens at /bookkeeping/expenses/new.

Before you start

• If you have the receipt as a photo or PDF, upload it instead and Nova reads the numbers for you; see Upload a receipt and turn it into an expense.
• Your role needs permission to manage expenses to add one, and permission to void expenses to void one. Everyone with read permission can open the list.

Steps

1. Press Add expense. The Add expense window opens.
2. Under Vendor, pick who you paid. This is optional. If they are not in the list yet and your role can manage vendors, press + New vendor, type a name (and an email if you like) and press Create vendor; they are picked for you.
3. Set the Date on the bill. Left blank, Nova uses today.
4. Type the Total including tax. The currency shows under the box.
5. Type the Tax portion of that total, or leave it blank when no tax was charged. Where tax can be claimed back (Canada), Nova records it as claimable; otherwise it stays part of the cost.
6. Add a Description and, if the bill has a number, a Reference. Nova refuses a reference already used on another bill from the same vendor.
7. Under Category, pick the expense account this belongs to. Leaving it blank files it as uncategorized.
8. Tick Paid if you have already paid it; Nova records the payment from your main bank account. Leave it unticked for a bill you still owe.
9. Press Add expense. Nova shows Expense added. and it appears in the list with its Status: paid, or still owed.

What you see

• Each row shows the Date, a Ref you can copy, the Vendor, the Status, the Tax and the Total. The Ref is a code Nova made, not the reference you typed.
• Click a row or choose View from its actions menu to see the detail, including Paid so far and the Balance due. The description and your own reference are not shown there.
• Filters narrows the list by Status; the search box matches the vendor's name.
• If the same purchase also comes in on your bank statement, do not categorize that bank line too, or the cost counts twice. Copy the expense's Ref and use Match to a document on the bank line instead (see Categorize bank transactions).

If something looks different

• Add expense is greyed out: the organization's currency settings are incomplete. Ask an admin.
• Add expense in the window stays greyed out: you have not typed a total.
• Vendor reads Unknown in the list, or Category reads Unknown in the detail: the page cannot show the name. The expense still has its vendor and category.
• Nova refuses the expense because the accounting period is closed: the date is in a closed period (see Close the books for a period).
• An expense was entered by mistake: open its actions menu and choose Void, or open it and press Void expense. In Void expense, pick a Reason category (and add a Business explanation if you pick Other), then press Void expense. Nova shows Expense voided. The expense stays in the list as voided and its effect on your books is reversed.
• Void is missing on a row: the expense is marked paid or has a payment against it, it is already void, or your role cannot void expenses. A paid expense cannot be voided from this page.
• Closing the window after filling anything in asks whether to leave without saving.

Add an expense