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Expense tracking

Tracking expenses helps you understand your rental property profitability and prepares you for tax time.

Why track expenses?

  1. Tax Deductions - Many expenses are tax deductible
  2. Profitability - Understand your actual returns
  3. AGI Applications - Some expenses qualify for Above Guideline Increases
  4. Business Planning - Make informed decisions

Adding an expense

Step 1: Navigate to financials

  1. Click Financials in the sidebar
  2. Click Add Expense

Step 2: Enter expense details

FieldRequiredDescription
DateYesWhen expense occurred
PropertyYesWhich property
CategoryYesType of expense
AmountYesExpense amount
DescriptionRecommendedWhat was purchased/paid
VendorNoWho you paid
ReferenceNoInvoice/receipt number

Step 3: Attach receipt (optional)

Upload a photo or PDF of the receipt.

Step 4: Save

Click Add Expense to save.

Expense categories

Selectable categories

These are the actual selectable categories and where each lands on your T776:

CategoryTax Line
Maintenance & RepairsLine 8960
UtilitiesLine 9200
InsuranceLine 8690
Property TaxLine 9180
Mortgage PaymentLine 8710 (interest portion — principal isn't deductible)
Property Management FeesLine 8871
HOA/Condo FeesLine 9270 (Other)
Capital Expenditure (AGI)Handled separately under CCA, not a T776 expense line
Admin/OfficeLine 9270 (Other)
OtherLine 9270

There's no separate "Advertising" or "Legal & Professional" category to pick from — the T776 generator has line mappings ready for both (8521 and 8760 respectively) for future use, but neither is a selectable expense category today.

Capital expenses

Some expenses are capital (depreciated over time):

  • Major renovations
  • Appliance purchases
  • Significant improvements

These are tracked separately for CCA (Capital Cost Allowance).

Recurring expenses

For regular expenses like mortgage interest:

  1. Create one expense entry
  2. Check Recurring
  3. Set frequency (monthly, quarterly, yearly)
  4. System creates future entries automatically

Viewing expenses

Expense list

  • Go to FinancialsExpenses
  • View all expenses
  • Filter by property, category, date

By property

  • Go to property detail page
  • View Expenses section
  • Shows only that property's expenses

Editing and deleting

Edit an expense

  1. Find the expense
  2. Click Edit
  3. Make changes
  4. Save

Delete an expense

  1. Find the expense
  2. Click Delete
  3. Confirm
warning

Deleting expenses affects financial reports. Consider correcting rather than deleting.

Linking to maintenance

When resolving a maintenance ticket:

  1. Enter the cost on the ticket
  2. Optionally create linked expense
  3. Expense auto-populated with details

Receipt management

Uploading receipts

  • Attach to expense entry
  • Photo or PDF
  • Multiple receipts per expense OK

Organizing receipts

  • All receipts stored in cloud
  • Accessible from expense detail
  • Exportable for accountant

Best practices

  1. Record immediately - Enter expenses as they occur
  2. Attach receipts - Always upload documentation
  3. Categorize correctly - Use proper CRA categories
  4. Review monthly - Catch any missed expenses
  5. Export for tax time - Give accountant clean data

Next steps