Tracking Expenses

    Know exactly where your money goes — per vehicle and across your entire operation.

    Expense tracking is essential for understanding your true profitability. Turo shows you revenue, but it doesn't account for insurance, cleaning, maintenance, loan payments, or any of the other costs that eat into your margins. HostCaptain fills that gap.

    Adding Expenses

    There are two ways to add expenses:

    1. Quick Add (Manual Entry)

    Click the "Add Expense" button on the Expenses page to open the quick-add form. Fill in:

    • Expense name — A short description (e.g., "Oil change", "Monthly insurance")
    • Category — The type of expense (maintenance, insurance, cleaning, etc.)
    • Amount — The cost
    • Date — When the expense occurred
    • Vehicle — Which car it applies to, or "Operations" for company-wide costs
    • Expense type, Paid by, Paid to — Optional fields for more detailed tracking
    • Notes — Any additional context

    2. CSV Import

    For bulk entry, you can import expenses from a CSV file. Click "Import CSV" and upload a file with columns matching the expense fields. A sample CSV template is available for download inside the import dialog.

    💡 Tip

    Download the sample CSV first to see the exact format expected. This avoids import errors from column name mismatches.

    The "Operations" Category

    Not every expense is tied to a specific vehicle. Company-wide costs like LLC registration fees, office supplies, accounting software, or general parking should be assigned to "Operations" instead of a specific car.

    How it works:

    • When adding an expense, select "Operations" from the vehicle dropdown
    • Operations expenses appear in their own section in the expense summary
    • They are included in your total business expenses but not attributed to any single vehicle's P&L

    ⚠️ Note

    "Operations" is a reserved name — you cannot create a vehicle called "Operations" to avoid confusion.

    Expense Summary Cards

    At the top of the Expenses page, summary cards give you an at-a-glance view:

    • Total Expenses — Sum of all expenses across all vehicles and operations
    • Average Expenses per Car — Total vehicle expenses divided by the number of vehicles
    • Total Operations Expenses — Sum of all company-wide costs
    • Per-vehicle totals — Individual cards showing total expenses for each car

    Customizing Your Expense Table

    The expense table supports custom columns and custom dropdown options. You can:

    • Add custom columns with different data types (text, number, dropdown)
    • Customize the options available in the "Expense Type" and "Paid By" dropdowns
    • Reorder columns to match your preferred workflow

    Access these settings via the "Manage Options" button on the Expenses page.

    Editing & Deleting Expenses

    Click on any cell in the expense table to edit it inline. Changes are saved automatically. To delete an expense, use the delete action in the row's action menu. You can also clear all expenses at once if you need to start fresh.