Business expenses
Business expenses are the costs justified by business use; for tax purposes only what is connected with earning the income is deductible, and private shares have to be separated out.
Definition
The line is not always obvious: vehicle, home office, travel, entertainment and further training are the areas tax authorities correct most often. For entertainment, a deduction for the private share is customary.
Whoever separates out the private share themselves and justifies it stands better than someone who deducts everything and waits for the correction. The correction then costs not only tax but credibility for the other items.
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
What helps in practice is a chart of accounts that keeps private shares separate, and the ability to split an expense. Whoever books everything to one expenses account does the separation by hand at year end.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Bookkeeping and retention: Accrual principle Accrued liabilities Annual accounts Association accounting Balance sheet Balance sheet total Book value Break-even point Business assets Cash book Cash flow statement Cash receipts Contribution margin Cost centre Current assets Debit and credit Depreciation Double-entry bookkeeping Duty to keep accounts EBIT EBITDA Equity Equity ratio Financial year Fixed assets Fixed costs Foreign currency General ledger Gross profit Hidden reserves Income statement Inventory count Journal Journal entry Liabilities Liquidity Loss carry-forward Membership dues Net profit Opening balance sheet Overheads Pass-through item Prepaid expenses Provision Record-keeping ordinance Reserves Retained profit Simple accounts Swiss SME chart of accounts Tamper resistance Turnover Value adjustment Variable costs Volunteer-run structure Voucher Year-end closing modules