Categorise your transactions with Tide Accounting

Categorising your transactions is a vital bookkeeping task for small businesses and an essential part of Self Assessment for sole traders.

By correctly categorising your transactions, you can identify your income and expenses, allowing you to accurately file your tax return to HMRC.

How to categorise your transactions in your Tide app

Tide Accounting allows you to see which transactions are missing categories, and add the correct categories to them.

See which transactions are missing categories By opening Tide Accounting and tapping 'Bookkeeping Score'

Select a transaction to add its category By tapping on it

Choose a category to add from the dropdown Using our categories guide below

Sync your transactions to Tide Accounting

Tide automatically categorises up to 70% of transactions made through your Tide account.

If you made any business transactions outside of your Tide account, you'll need to add these to Tide Accounting.

The easiest way to do this is to log in to your Tide app, and tap 'Admin' > 'Bookkeeping Score' > 'Settings' > 'Synced Bank Accounts' to connect your other accounts to Tide Accounting.

Your full transaction information from those accounts will then be added automatically.

If you don't have our Accounting Extra or Admin Extra plans, you'll have to do this manually for each transaction you're adding. Tap 'Bookkeeping tasks' > 'Add transaction', enter the transaction's details, select its category, and confirm.

What the Tide categories mean

Your Tide app has a built-in list of categories to choose from, helping simplify this process and give you confidence in your choices.

Bank fees

Fees for banking services

The charges for your business bank account, such as the subscription fee for your Tide plan

(Not including interest payments)

Bank interest paid

Interest you pay on financial products

Any interest payments to your bank, for example interest on an overdraft

Capital introduced

Assets the owner(s) bring into the business

Any transactions related to you investing personal funds into the business

Cars, land or premises asset

Purchase of company car, land or premises

Any transactions related to an asset for the business, such as a business van to deliver goods

Fuel

Petrol, diesel, gas

Any fuel expenses for a company vehicle used for business travel

Hotels and accommodation

During business trips

For example, when you’ve had to stay in a hotel overnight for business purposes

Income

Sales or turnover

Transactions that relate to the normal operations of your business, such as selling your products or services

Insurance

Business-related insurance

For example, the premium for your business liability insurance

Loan interest payments

Interest repayments on loans

The interest you've paid on your bank loan

(Not any other associated fees or loan repayments)

Loans

Costs for the business to receive and pay back a loan

Any transactions related to receiving funds from a loan, or when you are repaying the capital of a loan

(Not the interest payments on the loan)

Marketing

Advertising and marketing promotion costs

Such as transactions related to your business's online advertising campaign with a social media influencer

Meals

Food bought while on business

Any transactions relating to meals or food bought while on business trips

Office supplies

Stationary and printing

Any supplies for the office, such as paper for the printer, pens or calculators

Operational equipment

Purchase or hire of items needed for your business

For example, if you’re a builder you could categorise a hammer as operational equipment

Other expenses

Any other business expenses

Such as memberships, recurring purchases, and any other business costs that aren’t classified anywhere else

Other income

Different to normal line of work

Any income different from your normal line of work, such as interest income you have received from a bank account

Payment to subcontractors

Support services

For example, costs related to having a subcontractor help you with a large project

Personal expenses

Non-business expenses

Any transactions that are not related to the business, such as the owner’s personal withdrawal from the business

(Only for sole traders)

Phone and internet

Office and business mobile connections

Such as office wifi payments and office phone bills

Professional fees

Accounting, legal and other professional fees

For example, paying your accountant for your annual tax preparation, or your solicitor for support in getting a mortgage for a business property

Rent

Payments for rent

Any transactions related to the rent of a space for business, such as the costs for renting an office

Shipping and postage

Postage, freight, couriers

Any transactions relating to transporting products, services or documents, such as delivery costs and buying stamps

Software and IT costs

Purchases and subscriptions

Such as buying a business laptop or subscription payments for your accounting software

Staff costs

Employee salaries, agency fees, pensions

Such as transactions relating to paying your employees' salaries

Stock

Goods bought to sell

Items you've bought to then sell as part of your business, such as a landscape gardener buying wood to build a fence

Taxes

Paid to HMRC

Any transactions related to paying tax, such as your income tax bill or corporation tax bill

(Not VAT payments, as this has a separate category)

Transfers

Money moving between bank accounts

Any transactions related to moving funds between your business bank accounts

Travel

Trains, planes, taxis, hire bikes

Any transactions related to travelling for work, such as train tickets

Utilities and work premises

Rates, power costs

Any transactions related to powering the business premises, such as the gas and electricity bills

VAT

Paid to HMRC for VAT bill

Any transactions related to paying your VAT bill

(Only if you're VAT registered)

Vehicle Maintenance

Ongoing upkeep of your business vehicle

Any transactions relating to repairs and servicing for a company car, such as the annual servicing fee

Categorising refunds

If you have a refund for a purchase or a refund for your sales, these should be allocated to the same category the original payment was for.

For example, if you sell a book to a customer, this transaction is categorised as 'income'. If you then refund the customer, that transaction should also be categorised as 'income'.

Similarly, if you buy some stock, this transaction should be categorised as 'stock'. If you return it, the refund from your supplier should also be categorised as 'stock'.

Find more information

How to complete your Self Assessment

Everything you need to know to accurately and confidently complete your Self Assessment.

Learn more

Frequently asked questions

If you've got a specific query, our FAQs are the quickest way to find the answer.

Find your answer