Categorizing Expenses

CRA T1 Categories

ExpenseFlow maps every transaction to a standard CRA T1 General category. Advertising covers marketing, ads, and promotional materials. Meals & Entertainment captures business meals, which are subject to the CRA's 50% deductibility rule. Insurance is for business insurance premiums. Interest & Bank Charges covers loan interest, bank fees, and payment processing fees. Office Expenses includes supplies and small equipment. Professional Fees covers legal, accounting, and consulting costs. Rent is for office or co-working space. Repairs & Maintenance covers equipment servicing. Salaries & Wages is for employee compensation. Travel covers flights, hotels, and transport for business trips. Telephone & Utilities includes your phone, internet, and utilities. Vehicle covers gas, insurance, maintenance, and Capital Cost Allowance. In addition to deductible categories, Internal Transfer marks money moved between your own accounts so it's excluded from totals, Personal flags non-deductible spending, and Income captures deposits and revenue.

Auto-Categorization

When you upload a bank statement, ExpenseFlow analyses the merchant name and transaction description and assigns the most appropriate CRA category automatically. For example, transactions from Shell or Petro-Canada are classified as Vehicle, purchases at Staples or Amazon as Office Expenses, restaurant charges as Meals & Entertainment, and Bell or Rogers bills as Telephone & Utilities. Auto-categorization handles the bulk of the work — you only need to step in for the occasional edge case.

Changing a Category

1. 1On the Transactions page, click the coloured category label in the Category column.
2. 2Select the correct category from the dropdown — saved immediately.
3. 3Alternatively, click any row to open the detail panel and change the category there.

Bulk Categorization

1. 1Select multiple transactions using the checkboxes.
2. 2The Bulk Actions bar appears at the bottom.
3. 3Choose a category from the Categorize as… picker and click Apply.

Meals & Entertainment — 50% Rule

CRA only allows 50% of meals and entertainment expenses as a deduction. ExpenseFlow automatically applies this rule when calculating your totals and exports.

Internal Transfers

Use Internal Transfer for any transaction that moves money between your own accounts (e.g. paying off your business credit card from your chequing account). These are excluded from deductible totals so they don't inflate your numbers.