---
title: "QBO billable income account for Administrators - Payhawk Help Center"
slug: "failed-to-export-into-quickbooks-online-the-selected-account-for-a-billable-expense-does-not-have-an-income-account-associated-with-it"
description: "Fix the billable expense income account error in QuickBooks Online: set up the expense account to track billable expenses with an income account, then export."
updated: 2026-10-21T10:25:18Z
published: 2026-10-21T10:25:18Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/failed-to-export-into-quickbooks-online-the-selected-account-for-a-billable-expense-does-not-have-an-income-account-associated-with-it"
---

> ## 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.

# Failed to export into QuickBooks Online. The selected account for a billable expense does not have an income account associated with it.

## Error message

```plaintext
The selected account for a billable expense does not have an income account in QuickBooks Online associated with it.
```

## Affected ERP integrations

- QuickBooks Online

## Cause

This error occurs when you're trying to export an expense that has been marked as billable in Payhawk, but the corresponding expense account in QuickBooks Online is not configured to support billable expenses.

For an expense to be billable in QuickBooks Online, the chart of accounts entry mapped to the expense category in Payhawk must:

- Have the billable option enabled.
- Have an associated income account configured.

## Solution

To resolve this issue:

1. Log in to your QuickBooks Online account and go to **Settings**.
2. Select **Chart of Accounts**.
3. Locate the expense account that is mapped to your Payhawk expense category.
4. Click on the **pencil** icon next to the account to edit it.
5. In the account settings, enable the **Track billable expenses and items as income** option.
6. Select an **Income Account** from the drop-down menu to associate with this expense account. This is the account where the billable income will be recorded when you invoice the customer.
7. Click **Save and Close**.
8. Once the account is properly configured in QuickBooks Online, return to Payhawk and attempt to export the expense again.

> [!TIP]
> Make sure your Payhawk expense categories are mapped to the correct QuickBooks Online chart of accounts entries configured for billable expenses.

![Editing account details for Offline Ads, including account code and billable expenses.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3AIntegrations%3AError%20messages/qbo_error_billable%20expense%20account.jpg)