{"id":16133,"date":"2021-03-19T16:03:27","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T16:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/synder.com\/help\/?p=16133"},"modified":"2026-09-17T19:44:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T19:44:58","slug":"apply-categories-to-expenses-in-quickbooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/synder.com\/help\/apply-categories-to-expenses-in-quickbooks\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Apply Categories to Expenses Using Synder Smart Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Everyone needs proper categorization of expenses, right? The categorization used to be a lonely and cumbersome manual task that was still prone to human error. With Synder Smart Rules, categorizing your expenses can be a breeze: just set up a rule, turn on auto-synchronization, and boom – the smart and tireless machine does the job for you! How do we get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overview:<\/b><\/p>\n

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  1. How Do You Tell Them Apart?<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\t

  2. Creating your Smart Rule<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n\t

  3. Checking How It Works<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How Do You Tell Them Apart?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    First, you\u2019ll need to find a way to distinguish between your various expenses. Say, you sell two products: one is $20 and the other is $400 \u2013 and you want the fees that you pay for the first one to go to the Commissions & Fees<\/em> category, and the fees that you pay for the second one to Legal & Professional Fees<\/em>. It could be assumed that the fee amount for the first product will hardly be more than $10 and that the fee amount for the second product will hardly be less than $10. So let\u2019s try using the amount as the rule condition. Naturally, you can use any of the other conditions that are included in the Expense in QuickBooks, e.g., Payee<\/em>, Payment method<\/em> \u2013 it depends on what you have in the payment platform transaction for the most part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creating Your Smart Rule<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Now that we have established a reliable way to distinguish between our expenses, let\u2019s create the rule:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Go to Smart Rules \u2192 Rules \u2192 Create Rule<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Choose the trigger that starts your rule: Expense \u2192 Created. It means that each time Synder creates an expense in your QuickBooks, this Rule will fire.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Choose the condition to differentiate between the expenses: if Total amount \u2192 Less or equals \u2192 10. In this way, you tell Synder to check if this condition is met and apply the rule according to it.\u00a0Note:<\/strong> for your case, you can use any other condition that makes sense to your business flow.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Finally, choose the action: QuickBooks action \u2192 Expense \u2192 Update current \u2192 Set QuickBooks entity data. This will tell Synder that it should update the exact expense which has triggered the rule.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. You will be presented with an expense template where you\u2019ll be able to select the category. After selecting it, click on Submit<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. Repeat the action for the cases when the condition is not met if you need Synder update expense if it doesn\u2019t tally with the condition.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \nSync mode note:<\/strong> Smart Rules run in Per-Transaction sync only<\/strong>. They are not available in Summary Sync (Daily Summary)<\/strong> on any platform. If your organization syncs in Summary mode, use Mapping \/ Grouping<\/a> instead — it is the Summary-mode substitute for Smart Rules.

      New to sync modes? See       How Smart Rules Work in Synder<\/a>.\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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      Checking How It Works<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Go to the Platform transactions<\/em> tab and sync a few transactions to check the result on your accounting platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Perfect, isn\u2019t it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reach out to the Synder team<\/em><\/a> via online support chat, phone, or email with any questions you have \u2013 we\u2019re always happy to help you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n