SettingsExpense Categories
Editing an Expense Category
How to edit an existing expense category and what happens when you rename or recolour one that is already in use.
Open a custom category from Settings > Expense Categories, then click Edit expense category down the side of the details popup when the category already exists but its wording, colour or tax box needs changing. The edit popup returns to Expense Category Information. This edit flow is for custom categories. Protected system categories do not use the same day-to-day edit path from the list.
Fields You Can Change
- Name: Change this when the label needs to be clearer or more consistent for your accounts team.
- Color: Change this when you want the category to stand out differently in the list or match the way your team colour-codes accounts labels.
- Tax box: The box on your Self Assessment return the category's expenses add up in, such as Car, van and travel expenses. Choose Not chosen yet to put them back under Other business expenses. It's the same box as the category has in Settings > Accounts & tax, so you can choose it here without being able to change that page.
What an Edit Changes
- Future use: New expenses and scheduled transactions will show the updated category name and colour.
- Existing linked records: Expenses and other linked records still point at the same category record, so renaming the category changes how that category is shown when those records are viewed later.
- Filters and reports: Anywhere Work Planner reads the category name from the category record will start showing the updated wording after save.
- Tax box: All the category's expenses, earlier ones too, move to the new box on the Income Tax page. Your next quarterly update sends the tax year with them in it; updates already sent keep what they sent.
When to Be Careful
- Name changes: Avoid frequent renaming for bookkeeping categories that already have a lot of history attached, because it can make older records look as though they were always filed under the newer wording.
- Protected rows: If a row is marked as a system category in the list, treat it as part of Work Planner's built-in setup rather than something to rename casually.
Related articles
- Creating an Expense Category: Useful when you decide the safer option is to add a new category instead of renaming the old one.
- Expense Category Details: Covers the read-only view you open before editing.
- Expense Detail View: Helpful if you want to see how linked expense records surface the category later.