You can use Categories to track and report specific transactions. Transactions can be allocated to one category.  

Examples of categories you can create for tracking purposes include separate departments within your company, specific services or geographical divisions. For instance, various categories could be set up to represent different divisions within an automobile dealership:

• New Car Sales
• Pre-Owned Car Sales
• Service
• Parts
• Accessories

When entering a transaction, the appropriate category is assigned to it. A Profit & Loss and a Balance Sheet report can then be prepared for each of the categories. This is an easy way to compare each division's profitability and performance.

Turning Category Tracking On and Off

To display the Category field on all your transaction windows and assign transactions to categories, mark the preference Turn Category Tracking On under Setup > Preferences > System. This task requires single-user access to your company file. You may have to ask other users to logout so you can turn this preference on.

If you want to use categories to track information seasonally or for a particular time period, you can mark this preference at the beginning of the period so the field displays throughout AccountEdge. Then, uncheck the preference when the period is over so the Category field no longer appears.

Creating and Managing Categories

All creation and managing of categories is done by going to Lists from the menu bar at the top of the screen and choosing Categories form the drop-down.

Here you can create new categories by hitting the New button at the bottom left. All Categories require an ID (which can be any combination of numbers or letters) and most people assign a name to them. You can also include a description if you choose.

If you ever need to edit a category you can do so from the same screen (Lists > Categories) and then click on the arrow next to it. You can change the ID/Name/Description if necessary or make the category inactive. If you would like to delete the category you can do so by going to Edit > Delete Category from the top of the screen (as long as you've clicked the arrow to edit the category).

Additional Category Information

Applying Credit Memos Across Categories

Category Reports