Income and expenses: frequently asked questions
Questions about adding expenses, how expenses affect the till, the cash register report, payment type limits, cheques, supplier payments, recurring expenses, expense types and permissions.
You record money movements other than sales, such as rent, bills and salaries, in the Income / Expense section. Below are the most frequently asked questions; for step-by-step instructions, see the Adding income and expenses article.
Entering expenses and income
Where do I add an expense?
You add income the same way, from the Income page.
I added an expense, but the turnover / cash amount on the home page didn't go down.
The sales and turnover cards on the home page only show the sales you made; expenses are not deducted there. You see how expenses affect the till in the Cash Register Report in reports: expenses entered with the cash payment type are deducted from the money that should be in the till. Expenses also have their own card in the Daily and Date Range reports.
Where do I see how much money should be in the till?
Look at the Cash Register Report card in the Daily or Date Range Report (in the desktop app, in the Sales Report): cash sales + cash payments received from customers + cash income − cash expenses and cash payments to suppliers. To carry the previous day's closing balance over as the next day's opening balance, turn on My Profile › Other Settings › Carry over till opening from previous day in the web panel.
I can't choose bank transfer, cheque or meal card when entering an expense.
For income and expenses, only Cash and Credit Card (POS) can be selected as the payment type; additional payment types and external tills are not used in this section. You can record an expense you paid other than in cash as Credit Card and use the expense type (e.g. "Bank transfer", "Cheque") to tell them apart; this way your cash till is not affected.
How do I enter a post-dated expense I'll pay by cheque?
Enter the expense with its due date (a future date) and select "Cheque" as its type; the expense shows up in reports on that date. In the Expenses list, move the end date forward to see your pending cheques. Cheques given to suppliers should be entered as payments on the supplier card.
Should I enter a payment to a supplier as an expense?
No. Enter supplier payments as payments on the supplier card: Supplier payments and debt. Purchase invoices paid in cash or by credit card are also deducted from earnings without a separate expense. If you record the same payment both on the supplier and in Expenses, the spending is deducted twice and your profit looks lower than it is.
Can I add a recurring expense such as rent automatically every month?
There are no automatic recurring expenses at the moment; you need to enter it again each month. To enter a purchase paid in installments (e.g. 6 installments by credit card) in one go, use the Number of installments field: the amount is split into installments and a separate record is created for each month (web and mobile).
How do I add expense types (categories)?
Types can't be set up in the desktop app; add them in the web panel and they come to the desktop app by sync.
Types are set up in the web panel; when you add an expense on mobile, the existing types are listed.
How do I keep track of credit card / POS commission?
You can enter the commission the bank deducts as an expense (e.g. with the type "POS commission"). If you want to pass the commission on to the customer, you can add a service charge to the sale: in the web panel, My Profile › Service Fee Settings (see Stock, product and other settings).
Editing, reports and permissions
How do I correct or delete an expense I entered wrong?
Use the pencil icon at the end of the record in the list to change the amount, payment type, type and note; delete it with the bin icon. You can select several records and change their payment type or type in bulk.
To cancel a record, double-click the row or press the bin icon.
To delete, tap the record and confirm.
How do I see my monthly expense total and the breakdown by type?
On the Expenses page, select the date range (e.g. the 1st to the last day of the month) and, if needed, the type, and list them; export with Download Excel. The Income / Expense Types page gives totals by type. The effect on profit and the till for the same period is in the Expenses and Income cards of the Date Range Report.
The top of the Expenses page shows the total expenses, the breakdown by payment type and this month's total; you can filter the list by date range and type.
On the Expenses page, select the date range and tap List.
I want my staff to be able to add expenses but not see old ones.
Staff income and expense actions are turned on with the Income-Expense permissions on the staff card. To add expenses, they also need permission to view expenses; there is currently no "can add but can't see history" option. See Adding staff and setting permissions.
Can I do bookkeeping or track bank accounts?
BenimPOS is a sales, stock and customer/supplier account tracking program; it doesn't have a separate bookkeeping module. You can track money movements other than sales as income and expenses, customer and supplier accounts on customer and supplier cards, and collections such as bank transfers with payment types.
Can I keep the income and expenses of two separate businesses (e.g. two stores or projects) apart?
In the same account, you can track them by using separate types (e.g. "Store 2 - Rent"). If you want stock, till and reports to be completely separate, open a branch account; each branch's income and expenses are kept separately (a branch is licensed separately).
How do I record money received other than sales (e.g. rental income, capital)?
Add a new income on the Income / Expense › Income page (payment type Cash or POS). Cash income is added to the Cash Register Report; it is not included in sales turnover. A credit payment you receive from a customer should be entered as a payment on the customer card, not as income.