Money6 min readUpdated By the StockỌja team
How to track business expenses in a small business
Short answer
Record every running cost on the day you pay it, with the amount, a category and, if you have several branches, which branch it belongs to. Keep stock purchases separate from running costs, keep business and personal money apart, and once a month compare running costs with the gross profit from your sales to see what the business really made.
What counts as an expense
Expenses are the costs of running the business: rent, salaries, electricity and generator fuel, transport, data and airtime, packaging, marketing, repairs. Stock you buy to resell is different: it becomes inventory, and its cost is counted when the item sells. Mixing the two makes both your profit and your stock value wrong.
Pick a few categories and stick to them
Fewer categories, used consistently, beat a long list nobody follows. A good starting set:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Rent | Shop rent, store room, service charge |
| Salaries | Staff pay, casual labour |
| Utilities | Electricity, generator fuel, water, internet and data |
| Transport | Market runs, deliveries, dispatch riders |
| Supplies | Bags, packaging, receipt paper |
| Marketing | Social media adverts, flyers, influencer posts |
| Repairs | Shelving, AC, phone or laptop repairs |
| Other | Anything that does not fit, reviewed monthly |
These are the categories every StockỌja business starts with, and you can add your own.
A daily routine that takes two minutes
- 1
Record as you pay
The moment you pay for fuel or transport, record it: amount, category, branch, a few words of description.
- 2
Keep the proof
Snap a photo of the receipt or keep the transfer alert. It helps when a number looks wrong later.
- 3
Close the day
Before you leave, check nothing you paid in cash today is missing.
Separate business and personal money
The single most useful habit: do not pay personal costs from the till, and do not pay business costs from your personal account without recording them. If you take money out for yourself, record it as what it is, a withdrawal, not an expense. Otherwise the business looks less profitable than it is, or more, and neither helps you decide anything.
From expenses to real profit
Once a month, put three numbers side by side: sales, gross profit (sales minus what the goods cost you) and running costs. Gross profit minus running costs is what the business made. If running costs are eating most of your gross profit, either prices are too low, costs too high or the wrong products are selling.
In StockỌja, sales tracking shows gross profit from every sale and expense tracking shows running costs by category and branch, so this comparison is already done.
Where StockỌja fits
- ProductExpense tracking Rent, salaries, transport and other running costs by category and branch, next to your sales.
- ProductSales tracking Every sale from the counter and the online store, by day, branch, payment method and product, with gross profit.
- SolutionSmall businesses Start free with one shop and a phone. Stock, sales, expenses and an online store, without a complicated setup.
- GuideHow to track stock in a small business A practical routine for knowing what you have, stopping stock from going missing and doing it from your phone.
- ProductRetail & branch management Several stores, staff roles and permissions, suppliers and purchase orders, transfers and an activity log.
- ProductPricing Start free with one store. Paid plans add branches, staff, products and reports.