---
title: "Managing accounting categories for the group"
slug: "managing-expense-categories-for-the-group"
description: "Manage expense categories at group level in Payhawk: create standard categories and sync them across entities on the Payhawk spend management platform."
updated: 2026-10-19T11:08:53Z
published: 2026-10-19T11:08:53Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/managing-expense-categories-for-the-group"
---

> ## 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.

# Managing accounting categories for the group

You can define accounting categories, manage their account codes and managers, and apply their settings to the whole group of entities or individual entities.

## Creating accounting categories and subcategories

In your Group Payhawk account:

1. Open the app switcher in the top-left corner and go to **Settings** > **Fields library** > **Category**.
2. Under **Values**, click on **Add category**.
3. In the dialog that opens, fill in a name for your category:
  - To create a new category, leave the **New parent category** field empty.
  - To create a subcategory, select the parent category for it from the drop-down list.
4. Under **Account code**, enter the account code for your category:
  - Switch on the **Inherit parent settings** toggle button to enable the category to inherit the settings from the group.
  - Switch on the **Different account codes per entity** toggle button to enable different settings per entity for your category. Once enabled, enter the respective account codes next to the correspending entities.
5. Under **Visibility**, select from the drop-down menus, which entities, teams or specific users will use this value, and which roles can see and change the the value of this field.
6. Under **Conditional display**, click on **+** **Add condition** to choose when this value will be visible.
7. Click on **Add category**.

![Category management interface displaying various expense categories and account codes.](https://storage.googleapis.com/payhawk-cdn/GA%3AFields%20library/accounting_categories_1.png)

## Visibility, configuration, and operations settings for categories and subcategories

You can select group categories and subcategories and apply various actions to them such as:

- Deactivate a category or subcategory.
- Reactivate an inactive category.
- Delete categories and subcategories.

The following actions can also be done from the settings of the [parent categories](/help/managing-expense-categories-for-the-group#h_e7aa9f716d) and [subcategories](/help/managing-expense-categories-for-the-group#h_87aa846b3f).

- Set the visibility of the category or subcategory for the entities within the group.
- Set the account code of the category or subcategory for the entities within the group.
- Set the category or subcategory manager for the entities within the group.
- For subcategories, inherit parent settings.

![Expense categories including Meals, Flights, and Hardware for organization in Payhawk.](https://storage.googleapis.com/payhawk-cdn/GA%3AFields%20library/accounting_categories_2.png)

## Bulk visibility, configuration, and operations settings

You can apply the visibility, configuration, and operations settings to two or more group categories and subcategories by selecting them.

![Categories for organizing expenses in Payhawk, with selected options highlighted for clarity.](https://storage.googleapis.com/payhawk-cdn/GA%3AFields%20library/accounting_categories_3.png)

## Turning categories into subcategories and vice versa

You may need to add a category as a subcategory for another category. To do so:

1. Click on the desired category.
2. In the dialog that opens, select a parent category from the drop-down list.
3. Click on **Save**. As a result, your former category will be visible as a subcategory under the parent category you've selected.

![Overview of expense categories including office supplies and their account codes.](https://storage.googleapis.com/payhawk-cdn/GA%3AFields%20library/accounting_categories_4.png)

To set a subcategory as a category:

1. Click on the desired category.
2. In the dialog that opens, set the parent category to **None**.
3. Click on **Save**. As a result, your former subcategory will be visible as a category.

![Overview of office supplies with category selection options displayed in a dropdown menu.](https://storage.googleapis.com/payhawk-cdn/GA%3AFields%20library/accounting_categories_5.png)

## Useful resources

- [Managing group settings of built-in expense fields](/help/managing-group-settings-of-built-in-expense-fields)