Expense Categories
Tracking expenses is only useful if you can make sense of them at tax time. creavio's expense categories let you organize every business purchase into logical groups so you know exactly where your money goes — and so your accountant doesn't have to guess.
Default Categories
creavio comes with pre-built categories that cover most photography businesses:
- Equipment — cameras, lenses, lighting, memory cards, hard drives
- Software — Lightroom, Photoshop, CRM subscriptions, cloud storage
- Travel — gas, flights, hotels, parking for on-location shoots
- Marketing — advertising, website hosting, print materials, social media tools
- Insurance — liability, equipment, and business insurance premiums
- Education — workshops, courses, conferences, mentorship programs
- Subcontractors — second shooters, assistants, editors, retouchers
Creating Custom Categories
Need something specific? Go to Money → Expenses → Categories and click Add Category. Name it whatever makes sense for your business — "Studio Rent," "Props & Styling," or "Client Gifts." You can also create subcategories for finer-grained tracking.
Assigning Categories
When you log an expense, select the appropriate category from the dropdown. If you forget, you can always recategorize later. creavio also suggests a category based on the vendor name — if you've categorized an Adobe charge as "Software" before, it will default to that category next time.
Tax Reporting
At year end, go to Money → Reports → Expense Summary. You'll see a breakdown of total spending per category. This maps directly to Schedule C line items for sole proprietors in the US. Export the report as a CSV and hand it to your accountant — they'll appreciate the organization.
Category Rules
Set up rules to auto-categorize recurring expenses. For example, create a rule that assigns all charges from "B&H Photo" to the Equipment category. This saves time and ensures consistency across months of expense tracking.