Tracking Business Expenses

Hi @Quinn Conahan , Michal from HoneyBook here.
You are correct in what you wrote, and I passed your feedback to our Finance team for consideration. 
Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions or feedback I can pass on.

Michal,

So, let me understand this as a new HB member.  To track our expenses, do we have to get a Honeybook Debit card?  I also assume that means opening a bank account that syncs and pulls these transactions into HB.  So, what about those of us that have a business account and a debit card already?  Why can't my existing business account be synched to HoneyBook Finance?  What about integrating Quickbooks, what happens with this option?

Hi @Mark Crader , and welcome!
As the feature in question is currently under development, its scope and content change rapidly. 
Let me take your questions to our finance team, and I’ll get back to you with up-to-date answers in the coming days 🙏🏼
However, I can ensure the QuickBooks integration remains intact.

Good Day Michal,

Under those nonsensical constraints, we won’t be using the Expense functionality.  I’m not tracking on HB’s logic from a subscriber/business owner perspective.  

1. We use contractors who submit expenses against projects.  Those would be manual entries as they can use whatever card they like.
2. For internal staff, we use our corporate card which provides us with additional benefits and incentives.  Again, manual entries.
3. We have subscriptions such as M365, Calendly, etc. that we don’t want on a debit card.
4. We have expenses that are cash - tips, etc.
5. We have existing banking relationships that we would not move to have the debit card, nor are we interested in the need to manage an additional bank.  This is another account to balance and fund, and I’m reasonably confident there will be fees associated with the HB account as well.  I’m not looking to pay more fees.

Most of our staff and contractors provide expenses via an Expensify export or excel file.  I would rather see dev time spent on improving the ability to upload files and transactions, not removing functionality.

Best Regards,

Eric

Hi @Eric Reibsane , Everything you described makes perfect sense, and I fully understand your concerns. Please allow me the time to clear things up with the people in charge of that product area, and I promise to share all of the information, prospect plans, and all the answers to your concerns.
I promise a quick follow-up.

Hi @Eric Reibsane and @Mark Crader , I shared your feedback with our Finance team. First, I would like to thank you for the detailed feedback and the time you took to share your use cases; this is highly appreciated, and we learned a lot from it.

Soon, the "Expenses" page will be deprecated. This is an old, unmaintained feature due to its low usage.
We apologize that we can't continue to support your use case with the Expenses page. Unfortunately, we cannot offer an alternative solution for manually adding expenses at the moment.

We've been working very hard to let members manage their finances where their business is, and we're introducing a new set of tools via HoneyBook Finance (to be released very soon!) that will allow you to manage your business in one place. You'll be able to connect the dots financially - understand which projects are most profitable, project future cash flow, understand your expenses, set saving goals, and much more. Yes, you'll need to sign up to get an account and debit card to enjoy these.

We hope that you decide to give it a try 🙂

Thanks Michal. Unfortunately, I’ll need to find a different solution.

Best Regards,
Eric

So, where will all the expenses go that I’ve already manually entered up to this point??? I use this to show profit and loss. Without this, I’m not sure that Honeybook makes sense for me, anymore.

Hey @Whitney Cromley!

Your previously entered expenses will not disappear! They will remain :) 

Where does this show, because I no longer see an “Expense” option?  Finance menu now only shows Overview, Payments, Reports, and Bank Details.  Expenses does not show when you click on each of those options.

But where are they?

@Whitney Cromley You should see the expenses back on your dropdown options now. @Rebecca Cosentino, I’m having the team add it back for you as well! 

Extremely Disappointed – Why Are You Removing the Expense Tab?

I’m honestly frustrated and extremely disappointed to hear that you’re removing the Expense tab.

As a business owner, this feature is critical for keeping my finances organized, tracking every cost, and ensuring I have everything ready for tax time. I DO NOT want to link my bank account, and I shouldn’t have to in order to track my business expenses.

This decision feels like a huge step backward for those of us who rely on manual tracking to keep control of our financials without giving up our privacy. It’s hard to believe a business management platform like HoneyBook would remove such an important feature without offering a comparable replacement.

So I need to ask: What is supposed to replace this? How are we supposed to manage our expenses now? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a tool that helps us keep track of our financials without forcing us to link bank accounts or credit cards.

This change seriously affects how I manage my business, and I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. Please let us know what alternative you’re offering for those of us who rely on this feature. This is a dealbreaker for me if there isn’t a proper replacement.

Hi @Jen Sawyer I wanted to personally reach out and thank you for your feedback and questions. I understand that this is frustrating and disappointing for you, and absolutely do not want to minimize the impact it has based on your expectations of tools like HoneyBook. 

When sunsetting the expense tab, our decision was not made lightly. We believe that the suite of tools HoneyBook Finance provides brings even greater value than the standalone expense feature. Our goal with HoneyBook Finance is to offer an all-in-one solution that simplifies your financial management even further. By integrating tools like expenses, income tracking, and automated reporting, HoneyBook Finance is designed to provide a more seamless, end-to-end experience without the need to rely on multiple platforms like QuickBooks (though we do have an integration).

Again, thank you for sharing your feedback. I understand how frustrating it can feel to have a feature you’ve grown to rely on change. We truly appreciate your business and your trust in HoneyBook. I’ve relayed your feedback directly to our team.