If you already organize your Cost Book by cost code (CSI divisions like 26 for Electrical, or your own numbering), you can tag each expense with one of those codes. Then filter your expense list down to a single trade and see exactly what you’ve spent on electrical, plumbing, or drywall.
Cost codes sit alongside the Category labels you already use. They don’t replace them. Category stays the quick Labor/Materials-style split, and the cost code adds the finer-grained “which trade or phase was this” layer on top.
Cost codes are an add-on we turn on team by team. If you don’t see a Cost Code column on your expenses, your team doesn’t have it yet. Get in touch with us and we’ll talk it through.
Where the Codes Come From
There’s no separate list to maintain. The codes are the top-level groups in your Cost Book, under Resources → Cost Book Setup: the rows like 007 Drywall or 26 Electrical that have items nested under them. Change a group’s code or name there and every expense tagged with it shows the update.
A few rules:
Only top-level groups can be picked. The individual items inside a group (the priced line items) aren’t cost codes.
Codes show as code and name together, like 0401 – Electrical. A group with no code shows just its name.
If your Cost Book is empty, the picker says so and links you to Resources → Cost Book. Import or build your groups there first.
Tagging an Expense from the List
The quickest way is straight from the expense list. It works on the main Finances page (Transactions → Expenses) and on any project’s Finances tab.
Find the Cost Code column. In the Table view it’s to the right of Category, so you may need to scroll the table sideways.
Click + Cost code on the expense you want to tag.
Type part of a code or a name into Search cost codes to narrow the list, then click the one you want.
That’s it. The code saves the moment you pick it, with no Save button.
To change a code, click it and pick a different one. To remove it, hover over the code and click the × that appears. Long names get cut off to fit the column, so hover over a code to see the whole thing.
Tagging an Expense in the Expense Form
Both New Expense and the edit drawer you get when you click an existing expense have a Cost Code field, just below Category. Click into it and start typing a code or name to search. Pick one, or click the × to clear it. When you’re editing an existing expense, the change saves along with everything else when you click Update Expense.
The field is optional. Eano never fills it in for you.
Every Kind of Expense Can Carry a Code
This isn’t limited to expenses you typed in by hand. You can tag:
Manual expenses
Expenses linked to a scope item
Operating expenses (OpEx)
Expenses imported from QuickBooks
Timesheet labor
Each expense carries one cost code at a time.
Filtering by Cost Code
In the Table view, a Cost Code filter sits next to All Categories at the top of the expense list.
Click Cost Code.
Tick one or more codes. Search works here too.
The list shows every expense tagged with any of the codes you ticked. With one code picked, the filter shows its name. With several, it shows a count. Click the × on the filter to clear it.
You can keep a cost code filter for later with Save as New Filter, just like your other filters.
In the Scope and Vendor Views
The Scope and Vendor views on a project’s Finances tab show cost codes too, and you can add, change, or clear them right there, the same way as in the Table view.
In the Scope view, the Cost Code column sits right after Description. Only the expenses themselves carry a code. The scope groups and scope items above them don’t.
In the Vendor view, each expense listed under a vendor shows its code. Vendors themselves don’t get one.
The Cost Code filter only appears in the Table view, so switch back to Table when you want to narrow the list.
A Few Things Worth Knowing
Codes don’t carry over from the scope. Tagging an expense is always a separate step, even when the expense is linked to a scope item that came from your Cost Book. That’s on purpose: sometimes most of a line’s costs belong to one trade but one bill (an engineer’s fee, say) belongs to another.
Existing expenses start blank. Nothing is backfilled when cost codes are turned on for your team, so older expenses need to be tagged by hand.
Deleting a group from your Cost Book doesn’t untag anything. Expenses already tagged with it keep the code, shown with (deleted) after it, but you can’t pick that group for new expenses.
Cost codes stay in Eano. They aren’t sent to QuickBooks, and they aren’t included in Export Expense Data.
Who can change them: anyone on your team who can edit expenses. If expense editing is turned off for your account, you’ll still see the codes but can’t change them.
Web and desktop only. The Eano Pro mobile app doesn’t show or set cost codes.
FAQ
I don’t see a Cost Code column or filter. Where is it? Cost codes are an add-on, so the whole feature stays hidden until it’s turned on for your team. Reach out to us if you’d like it. If it’s on and you still can’t find the column, scroll the expense table to the right. It sits just past Category.
Why can’t I pick one of the items in my Cost Book? Only the top-level groups work as cost codes. The items inside a group are priced line items for building estimates, not codes. If you need a finer split, make it a group of its own in your Cost Book.
Can I put two cost codes on one expense? Not right now. Each expense holds a single code. If one bill really covers two trades, the cleanest workaround is to record it as two expenses.
The picker says “No cost codes are available yet.” What do I do? Your Cost Book doesn’t have any groups yet. Head to Resources → Cost Book Setup and import your cost codes or add groups, then come back and they’ll be in the list.
I linked an expense to a scope item from my Cost Book. Why didn’t it pick up the cost code? Cost codes are set on each expense by itself and never copied from the scope item, so tag the expense from the Cost Code column or the expense form.
Will this change what my QuickBooks shows? No. Cost codes live only in Eano. Nothing about your QuickBooks sync changes.