You renew your van insurance for $300. Fill up the tank for $65. Pay your phone bill for $85. None of these expenses are tied to a specific customer or job. But without them, your business doesn't exist. These are general expenses — your business overhead. Here's why tracking them separately from job expenses shows you what it actually costs to keep your doors open.
What is a General Expense?
A general expense is any cost that keeps your business running regardless of which jobs you take. These expenses exist whether you complete one job this week or ten. They're not tied to a specific customer. They're the baseline cost of being in business.
The defining test: Would this expense exist even if you didn't do any jobs this week? If the answer is yes, it's a general expense.
Fuel
Gas for your van. You're driving to job sites regardless of which specific customer you're visiting today.
Insurance
Van insurance, liability insurance, worker's comp. These cover your business operations, not individual jobs.
Tools
A new drill, replacement saw blades, pipe wrench. These get used across many jobs, not purchased for one customer.
Vehicle maintenance
Oil changes, new tires, brake service. Your van needs maintenance whether you're busy or slow.
Phone
Your business phone bill. You need it to answer calls from all customers, not just one.
Office costs
Accounting software, website hosting, business license renewal, bank fees. Administrative costs of running a business.
These are the costs of being a contractor. They don't go away when business is slow. They don't spike when business is busy. They're your fixed overhead.
How CashWrench tracks General Expenses
When you log a general expense in CashWrench, you're tracking what it costs to run your business — separate from what it costs to complete individual jobs.
General Expense tracking in CashWrench — categorize business overhead separately from job costs
Here's what happens when you create a general expense:
Choose General Expense — CashWrench asks: is this tied to a specific job, or is it business overhead? You pick General Expense.
Add the details — Title (e.g., "Van insurance renewal"), Amount, Date, and Notes.
Pick the category — Fuel, Tools, Insurance, Vehicle, Phone, Office, or Other. This helps you see where your overhead dollars are actually going.
CashWrench tracks it separately — General expenses are recorded but don't affect your job-level profit calculations. They're business overhead, tracked at the business level.
At the end of the month, you see two clear numbers: what you made on individual jobs (after job expenses), and what it cost to run your business overall (general expenses).
Why general expenses matter
Most contractors know they have overhead. Insurance bills arrive. Gas tanks need filling. Phone bills get paid. But few contractors actually track where those overhead dollars are going.
Your real monthly overhead
You think overhead is "around $1,200 per month." When you actually track it, it's $1,850. That's a $650 gap. Now you know you need to generate at least $1,850 in gross profit every month just to break even — before you pay yourself anything.
Where the money is actually going
You assumed fuel was your biggest overhead cost. After three months of tracking, you realize vehicle maintenance ($420/mo) and insurance ($380/mo) are eating more money than fuel ($280/mo). Maybe it's time to consider a newer, more reliable van.
Seasonal patterns in overhead
Your fuel costs spike in summer when you're driving more. Tool replacement costs spike in fall when you're preparing for winter work. Knowing these patterns helps you budget instead of being surprised by a $400 tool expense in October.
Whether your pricing covers overhead
Your job-level profit averages $8,500 per month. Your general expenses average $2,100 per month. That leaves $6,400 for you to take home. If you need $7,000/mo to live, you either need more jobs or higher prices — the numbers don't lie.
None of these insights are available if you're just watching your bank balance at the end of the month. Tracking general expenses shows you exactly where your overhead dollars are going.
General Expenses vs Job Expenses
The key distinction: job expenses reduce your profit on specific jobs. General expenses reduce your overall business profit.
Here's a real example of how they work together:
Two layers of costs, two layers of clarity — you know exactly where every dollar went
If you mixed job expenses and general expenses together, you'd just see "$14,200 revenue minus $4,950 in expenses = $9,250 profit." That tells you the end result, but it doesn't tell you whether the problem is low job margins or high overhead. Tracking them separately shows you both.
The seven categories of general expenses
CashWrench organizes general expenses into seven categories to help you see patterns across your overhead spend.
⛽
Fuel
Gas for your van, diesel for your truck. Daily driving to job sites.
🔧
Tools
New drill, replacement blades, pipe cutter. Tools used across many jobs, not bought for one customer.
🛡️
Insurance
Van insurance, liability insurance, worker's comp. Business coverage that protects you regardless of which jobs you take.
🚗
Vehicle
Oil changes, tire replacement, brake service, registration fees. Keeping your van running.
📱
Phone
Your business phone bill. Essential for customer communication.
🏢
Office
Accounting software, website hosting, business license, bank fees. Administrative costs.
📋
Other
Anything that doesn't fit the above categories. Marketing, continuing education, memberships.
Why this matters for pricing
When you track general expenses, you know your true cost of doing business. And that changes how you price.
Let's say your general expenses average $2,000 per month. You typically complete 10 jobs per month. That means each job needs to contribute $200 toward overhead just to cover your baseline costs — before you make any profit.
Every job must cover this before you make a single dollar of profit
If a customer asks for a small repair and you're thinking of quoting $150, you now know that job won't even cover its share of overhead. You either quote higher, decline the job, or accept you're doing it at a loss as a customer relationship investment.
Without tracking general expenses, you'd look at that $150 job and think: "No materials needed, just labor. Pure profit." But it's not. $200 of your overhead is allocated to that job slot. You're actually losing $50 by taking it.
"General expenses don't show up on individual invoices. But they're why you need to charge what you charge. Track them. Know them. Price accordingly."
How often should you review general expenses?
Log them immediately — When you pay for fuel, insurance, or tools, log it that day. Don't wait until month-end to reconstruct from credit card statements.
Review them monthly — First week of each month, look at the previous month's general expenses. Are they trending up? Are there unexpected spikes? Are you spending more than you realized?
Adjust quarterly — Every three months, review your average monthly overhead. If it's crept up from $1,800 to $2,200, your pricing might need to adjust to compensate.
The goal isn't to eliminate general expenses — they're necessary. The goal is to know what they are, track where they're going, and make sure your revenue covers them.
CashWrench tracks General Expenses separately from Job Expenses
Log general expenses — fuel, insurance, tools, vehicle costs — and CashWrench categorizes them as business overhead. They're tracked separately from job-specific costs so you can see your real overhead without clouding your job-level profit margins. Every expense gets categorized. Every month you see where your overhead dollars went. No spreadsheets. No guesswork. Just clear numbers on what it costs to run your business.
7
categories
$0
guesswork
30s
to log it
Van insurance, fuel, phone bill, tool replacements — these aren't tied to the Henderson job or the Miller job. They're tied to being in business. Track them separately. Know your real overhead. Price jobs that cover it.
— The CashWrench Team
Know your real overhead.
Track general expenses separately from job costs. See what it actually costs to run your business. No credit card to start.