Overview
Manual entry is the default way to add an expense in Valzotra. You fill in the details yourself — date, amount, vendor, category, and any other relevant information. This method is available on all paid plans and works well when you have the information at hand or prefer to enter it directly.
How it works
- Go to Financials > Expenses and click Add expense.
- On the first screen, click Skip — enter manually to bypass receipt scanning and go straight to the form.
- Fill in the expense form:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Yes | The dollar amount of the expense. Enter as a decimal (e.g., 149.99). |
| Date | Yes | The date the expense occurred. Defaults to today. |
| Currency | No | Defaults to USD. Change if needed. |
| Vendor | No | The business or person you paid. Valzotra auto-suggests vendors you have used before. |
| Category | No | An IRS-aligned expense category (e.g., Repairs, Utilities). See Expense Categories. |
| Subcategory | No | A finer classification within the selected category (e.g., Plumbing under Repairs). |
| Property | No | The property this expense applies to. |
| Reservation | No | A specific reservation this expense relates to. The list filters to reservations for the selected property. |
| Description | No | Free-text notes about the expense. |
- Click Add expense to save.
- You land on the expense detail page, where you can attach receipts, edit fields, or navigate back to the list.
Limits & requirements
- You must have an active paid plan (Comply, Host, or Portfolio) to create expenses.
- Amount and date are the only required fields. All other fields are optional but recommended for compliance documentation.
- The vendor field offers autocomplete suggestions based on vendors you have previously entered.
- When you select a property, the reservation dropdown filters to show only reservations for that property.
FAQ
Do I need to fill in every field? No. Only amount and date are required. However, filling in vendor, category, and property creates a stronger tax record. At minimum, categorizing and assigning expenses to a property is recommended.
Can I change the entry after saving? Yes. Click any expense in the list to open the detail page, where you can edit all fields. See Editing & Deleting Expenses.
What is the vendor autocomplete? When you start typing in the vendor field, Valzotra suggests vendor names from your previous expenses. This helps you stay consistent with naming and speeds up data entry.
Can I add an expense without assigning it to a property? Yes. The property field is optional. You might do this for general business expenses (like software subscriptions) that are not tied to a single property.