Tracking Care Expenses

Last updated on Oct 25, 2026

The Create Expense form records each act of help on the person you served.

When your church helps a family with rent, covers a utility bill, or picks up a grocery run, that act of care is easy to remember in the moment and easy to lose track of by the end of the year. Expense tracking gives you a simple way to record that help right where your care already lives, so you always know what was given, to whom, and when.

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Watch: the Plus toolbox for Team Members.

What it is

An expense in CareNote is a record of money your church spent caring for someone. Each one carries the date, the amount, the merchant, a category (such as Groceries or Utilities), and a payment type (such as Church Card). You can tag every person the expense helped, add free-form tags, and write a description of the need.

Expenses live in two places:

On a person, in the Expenses tab of their record, so the financial side of care sits beside their visits, tasks, and care requests.
On a group, in the group's Expenses tab, for costs that belong to a ministry or team rather than one person.

When you need totals, the Expense Report adds everything up across your whole team, with breakdowns by category, payment type, group member, merchant, and month.

Expense tracking is part of CareNote Plus. Without Plus, the Expenses tab shows an "Expense Tracking" page with a "Learn about CareNote Plus" link instead of the buttons below.

1. Open a person's Expenses tab

Open People and find the individual or family you helped.
Open their record. In the Admin panel the tab row reads Activity, Care, Huddle, Interactions, Tasks, Milestones, Groups, Docs, Expenses, and Approvals.
Click Expenses.

The Expenses tab sits near the end of the tab row on every person's record.

The tab lists each expense with Date, Amount, Merchant, Category, Payment Type, Tags, and Tagged Profiles, newest first. Above the table are two buttons: Attach Existing Expense and Add Expense.

The Expenses tab on a person, with Attach Existing Expense and Add Expense buttons above the table — Add Expense records something new; Attach Existing Expense links an expense already in CareNote.

Team Members see the same tab, with the same buttons, on the person record in their Dashboard.

2. Add an expense

Click Add Expense. The Create Expense form opens.
Fill in the required fields: Expense Date (today by default), Amount, Merchant, Category, and Payment Type.
If the category or payment type you need is not in the list yet, click the + button beside the field, type a name, and save it. It is ready for everyone on your team from then on.
Under Tagged Profiles, the person you started from is already selected. Add anyone else the expense served, for example both spouses for couple's counseling.
Optionally add Tags and an Expense Description to capture the story behind the need.
Click Create, or Create & create another if you have several receipts to enter.

The Create Expense form filled in for a grocery purchase, with two people tagged — Date, amount, merchant, category, and payment type are required; tagging a second person shares the expense.

The new expense appears at the top of the table, and on the Expenses tab of everyone you tagged.

The Expenses tab after adding a grocery expense — The new expense appears at the top of the table, newest first.

3. Attach an expense that already exists

Sometimes an expense was logged on one person and also belongs to another, such as a spouse or a parent. Instead of entering it twice:

Click Attach Existing Expense.
In the Attach Expense window, search by merchant or description. Each option shows the date, merchant, and amount.
Click Attach, or Attach & attach another.

The Attach Expense window with a searchable list of existing expenses — Search by merchant or description to link an expense without entering it again.

4. Review, edit, or detach an expense

Each row has a menu with View, Edit, and Detach.

The row menu on an expense showing View, Edit, and Detach — Detach removes the expense from this person only; it stays on anyone else it is tagged to.

View opens a side panel with the merchant, amount, date, category, payment type, description, tagged people, who submitted it, and when it was created.

The expense detail panel showing merchant, date, category, payment type, tagged people, and who submitted it — Submitted By shows who on your team entered the expense.

To narrow the list, open Filters. Choose a Year (Current Year, Last Year, or 2 Years Ago), a Category, or a Type (the payment type), then click Apply filters. Reset clears them.

The Expenses filters with Year, Category, and Type — Filter by year, category, or payment type to find a past expense quickly.

The tab itself does not show a running total. For totals, use the Expense Report in step 6.

5. Track expenses for a group

Open a group and click its Expenses tab. Add Expense works the same way it does on a person. In the Admin panel, each row's menu offers View, Edit, and Delete.

Administrators also see Generate Report, which builds a report for just that group: pick a Report Type, a Start Date, and an End Date. Team Members who manage a group can add expenses to it.

A group's Expenses tab with Add Expense and Generate Report buttons — Group expenses cover ministry costs that do not belong to one person.

6. See totals in the Expense Report

Administrators find the Expense Report on the Reports page.

Open Reports and find the Expense Report card.
Click View Expense Report.

The Expense Report card on the Reports page with a View Expense Report button — The Expense Report lives on the Reports page, not in the left menu.

Under Report Options, choose a Report Type: Summary Report, Detailed Report, Expenses by Category, Expenses by Payment Type, Expenses by Group Member, Expenses by Merchant, or Monthly Expense Timeline.
Optionally pick a Group. Leave it on All Groups to include everything.
Set the Start Date and End Date. They default to January 1 through today.
Some report types add a Chart Type, or filters for category and payment type. Set those if you like, then click Generate Report.

The Expense Report options with Group, Report Type, and date range — Pick a report type and date range, then generate.

The Summary Report shows your total and item count, then breaks it down by category and by payment type.

A generated Summary Report with the total, By Category, and By Payment Type — The summary answers the year-end question: how much, and where it went.

Benevolence Approvals

Your Admin person record also has an Approvals tab for deciding on a benevolence request before money is spent. Approving a request and logging the expense are separate steps. Our Benevolence Approvals guide covers how that works.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need CareNote Plus to track expenses? Yes. Expense tracking and the Expense Report are part of CareNote Plus. Without it, the Expenses tab shows an information page with a "Learn about CareNote Plus" link.

Who can add expenses? Anyone who signs in as an Administrator or a Team Member can add, edit, and attach expenses on a person. Team Members who manage a group can add expenses to it. Email-only helpers who do not sign in to CareNote cannot.

Can one expense cover a couple or a whole household? Yes. Tag everyone it served under Tagged Profiles when you add it, or use Attach Existing Expense later. It then appears on each person's Expenses tab.

Is there a report that totals expenses across the whole team? Yes. Administrators open Reports, then View Expense Report, and choose from seven report types with any date range.

Does an expense go through an approval status? No. Once you save it, the expense is recorded. If your church wants a decision before money is spent, use Benevolence Approvals first.