# Adding Categories, is Stessa the wrong accoounting tool for me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [February 4, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624 "2023-02-04T17:44:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![goffrealestateinc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@goffrealestateinc](https://community.stessa.com/u/goffrealestateinc)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/1 "2023-02-04T17:44:38Z")
I have read the forum and understand that custom categories are not allowed under Stessa. I have been test driving Stessa as an alternative to Quickbooks. I am a Realtor that flips houses and has rental properties. Some of the categories that I need are set up in Stessa already which is great. But I have a lot of other things that I pay for as business expenses that I can easily categorize in Quickbooks. Examples might be Cell Phone expense…what category do I use for this expense in Stessa? Monthly Storage Unit cost, Google cloud storage cost, Tools cost, and many more. Based on the way I operate the business, is Stessa not the tool for me? In order to use Stessa would I need to create another bank account that I would need to use to pay for expenses that are not direct expenses for a property and track those costs separately? Have other people using Stessa set up a system for this? Thanks for your help, Scott ---
**Author:** ![brianpalmer123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@brianpalmer123](https://community.stessa.com/u/brianpalmer123)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/2 "2023-02-04T23:19:22Z")
Cell phone expense would go under utility/telephone, cable, and internet. I would put google cloud in the admin/software subscriptions category. ---
**Author:** ![jtgpropertiesllc](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/community.stessa.com/jtgpropertiesllc/32/354_2.png) [@jtgpropertiesllc](https://community.stessa.com/u/jtgpropertiesllc)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/3 "2023-02-05T01:34:59Z")
Id put tools under R&M Supplies ---
**Author:** ![jtgpropertiesllc](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/community.stessa.com/jtgpropertiesllc/32/354_2.png) [@jtgpropertiesllc](https://community.stessa.com/u/jtgpropertiesllc)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/4 "2023-02-05T01:37:18Z")
I have 2 separate cash management accounts. One for general business expense (which i assign at the portfolio level) and another account for property specific expenses that i assign at the property level ---
**Author:** ![kvreddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d2c977/32.png) [@kvreddy](https://community.stessa.com/u/kvreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/5 "2023-02-05T23:23:38Z")
I have been a new user as well and so far I don’t feel moving on to this system, as the customer service seems nonexistent. Both queries on the chat and the forums look unanswered. I don’t mind paying for the software, but accordingly we would need responsiveness on customer service side. The landlord accounts would add great values to my business as I have good sized balances in my accounts that can earn interest, but I posed a question regarding the compliance and safety of these accounts on forum which has been unanswered for almost 2 weeks. Same question asked on chat but so far it is unanswered. Also, not being able to input custom category and sub-categories is big no-no. I am a software developer myself and I don’t see how and why it is so difficult to add these features if the platform is built right and they have staff to support it. I am still experimenting with it, but very disappointed so far. ---
**Author:** ![edgecabins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df788c/32.png) [@edgecabins](https://community.stessa.com/u/edgecabins)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/7 "2023-03-03T22:36:06Z")
What sort of items do you put in your General Business Expenses bucket? I’m wondering if Hospitable, Price Labs, Canva, Touch Stay (which I currently split between properties) should go into a general expense bucket instead of a property bucket. ---
**Author:** ![gretchen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6de8d8/32.png) [@gretchen](https://community.stessa.com/u/gretchen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/8 "2023-07-25T21:40:39Z")
I feel you. Zero customer service is a no go for me. If I have a little bit of training and coaching I am sure that I could make it work for me, but as of now I am lost! I am super bummed as I was excited about this platform. Wonder if anyone from Stessa is even paying attention to unhappy customers like us? ---
**Author:** ![jtgpropertiesllc](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/community.stessa.com/jtgpropertiesllc/32/354_2.png) [@jtgpropertiesllc](https://community.stessa.com/u/jtgpropertiesllc)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://community.stessa.com/t/adding-categories-is-stessa-the-wrong-accoounting-tool-for-me/9624/9 "2023-07-31T23:12:57Z")
Sorry, just seeing this now. I think of general expenses such as Microsoft subscription, business-specific memberships, office supplies, tools, etc. as general business expenses. items that I do not use at solely a specific property.