---
title: "QBO card expenses as expenses for Administrators - Payhawk Help Center"
slug: "exporting-card-expenses-as-expenses-in-quickbooks-online"
description: "Export Payhawk card expenses to QuickBooks Online as expenses booked against the card account, with no bills. See what gets exported, the limits and the fixes."
updated: 2026-10-27T15:25:20Z
published: 2026-10-27T15:25:20Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/exporting-card-expenses-as-expenses-in-quickbooks-online"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://payhawk.com/help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Exporting card expenses as expenses in QuickBooks Online

By default, Payhawk exports every reviewed expense to QuickBooks Online as a bill, then adds a separate bill payment once the card transaction settles. You can choose to export card expenses as expenses instead.

An expense is a single QuickBooks Online transaction booked straight against the bank or credit card account that paid it. There is no bill, no bill payment and no Accounts Payable entry.

## Before you start

- Make sure you have [connected Payhawk to QuickBooks Online](/help/connecting-payhawk-to-quickbooks-online).
- Map every card currency, or every linked card, to a bank or credit card account in QuickBooks Online. Payhawk books the expense against that account.

## Change how card expenses are exported

To change the way card expenses are exported to QuickBooks Online:

1. In the [Payhawk Web Portal](https://portal.payhawk.com), go to **Settings** > **Integrations**.
2. Click the three-dot menu of the QuickBooks Online integration and select **Edit configuration**.
3. On the **Data mapping** screen, under **Card expenses**, set **Export as** to **Expenses**.

![Card expenses section of the QuickBooks Online Data mapping screen in Payhawk with the Export as dropdown open, showing the Bills and Expenses options](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3AIntegrations%3AQBO/Exporting_card_expenses_as_expenses_in_QuickBooks_Online_20261012_ai.png)
4. Save your changes.

From now on, each reviewed card expense is exported as an expense. Expenses already in QuickBooks Online stay as they are.

## What gets exported

The following table lists the fields that get exported to QuickBooks Online.

| QuickBooks Online field | Value from Payhawk |
| --- | --- |
| Payment account | The bank or credit card account mapped to the card's currency or to the linked card |
| Payment type | **Credit card** if the mapped account is a credit card account. Otherwise **Cash** |
| Payee | The supplier (vendor) of the expense |
| Date | The bookkeeping date of the expense |
| Reference number | The expense's document number (21 characters max) |
| Memo | The expense note |
| Lines | Same as for a bill: category or item, tax code, class, customer/project, location, billable status |
| Currency | The payment currency, with its exchange rate |
| Attachments | The expense receipts |

Any FX, POS or bank fees are exported as a separate journal entry against the same card account.

## What stays the same

- Refunds and negative card expenses still go through Accounts Payable, as a vendor credit, a journal entry or a card refund.
- Bill expenses and reimbursable expenses are always exported as bills.
- A card expense is exported only after its card transaction has settled. Until then the export waits, and Payhawk retries it automatically after settlement.

## Limitations

- A card expense linked to more than one card transaction can't be exported as an expense. Export it as a bill instead.
- Changing the setting doesn't convert expenses that are already exported. To export one the other way, [undo the export](/help/exporting-expenses-and-payments-to-quickbooks-online), then export it again.
- When you undo the export, Payhawk deletes both the expense and its fees journal entry from QuickBooks Online.

## Troubleshooting

When exporting card expenses as expenses to QuickBooks Online, you may encounter some issues. The following table lists error messages and the solutions you can apply to resolve them.

| Error message | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| This card expense has no settled card transaction to book against, so it can't be exported as an expense. Change the card expenses export type to bills to export it | Wait until the transaction settles. If you can't wait, set **Export as** back to **Bills**. |
| Card expenses with more than one card transaction can't be exported as expenses. | Export this expense as a bill. |
| This expense is already exported to QuickBooks Online with a different export type. Undo the export before changing how card expenses are exported | Undo the export, then export it again. |
| Configuration for linked card bank accounts mapping is missing. | Map the linked card, or its currency, to a bank or credit card account in the integration configuration. |
| Document number exceeds the limit of 21 characters. | Shorten the document number on the expense. |