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Track business spending and project profitability with HoneyBook Balance

Use HoneyBook Balance and your Visa® debit card to track expenses, monitor project profitability, and improve your financial strategy

Updated over a week ago

HoneyBook Balance makes it easy to track your business spending and understand your financial health—all from one dashboard. Purchases made with your HoneyBook Balance Visa® debit card are automatically categorized, giving you instant insight into where your money goes.

With HoneyBook Balance, you can make smarter, more strategic financial decisions—backed by real-time insights.


Track project profitability in real time

HoneyBook Balance links client payments and related expenses to projects automatically. When you assign expenses to a project, you’ll instantly see:

project worth = client payments – business expenses

Use this data to:

  • Assess project profitability

  • Identify cost-saving opportunities

  • Make data-driven decisions to improve margins


View net revenue on your HoneyBook Balance dashboard

Your HoneyBook Balance dashboard shows your net revenue over the past 30 days, calculated as:

net revenue = client payments – business expenses

This snapshot helps you:

  • Monitor cash flow at a glance

  • Evaluate financial health

  • Plan for future expenses or growth opportunities


Review expense categories

Auto-categorized business expenses

Every time you use your HoneyBook Balance Visa® debit card, either physical or virtual, the transaction is automatically recorded and categorized. These insights help you:

  • See real-time spending by category and merchant

  • Keep your finances organized for budgeting and tax prep

  • Avoid manual tracking for card-based expenses

You can view and adjust these categories anytime to ensure accuracy. Learn more about debit card expense categories.

Manually categorize transfers and external expenses

Expenses paid by manual transfers (not using your HoneyBook Balance Visa® debit card) must be categorized manually. This helps you:

  • Track all spending accurately

  • Create and manage budgets

  • Gain a full picture of your financial habits

🔥 Stop

Payroll and taxes can't be categorized.


See most expensed categories

You'll find what categories you spend the most on over the last 30 days in the "Spending trends" section of your Balance Dashboard. If you tag expenses to projects, you can also learn what kinds of expenses impact your project's profitability.

See expense categories from the mobile app

If you’re ever curious about where you’re spending your money and are on the go, you can review your most expensed categories from the app.

  1. From the navigation menu, select Tools > Balance

  2. Select Insights

  3. From here, you can see your spending trends over the past 30 days.


Debit card expense categories

There are 2 levels of expense categories:

  • Tier 1 categories (broad and not too specific)

  • Tier 2 categories (more distinct and precise)

Most Tier 1 categories will have Tier 2 categories. Use Tier 2 categories wherever possible, though a Tier 1 category will be used instead if there isn't a relevant Tier 2 category. Expenses that are automatically categorized when you pay for an expense with your business debit card will also use a Tier 2 category whenever possible, and will fall back to a Tier 1 category if needed.

Each section below provides each Tier 1 category and if available, the Tier 2 categories that are contained within that Tier 1 category.


Tier 1: Banking and Finance

Tier 2 categories:

  • Accounting and Bookkeeping

  • ATMs

  • Benefits

  • Business Brokers and Franchises

  • Credit Reporting

  • Financial Planning and Investments

  • Insurance


Tier 1: Charity

No Tier 2 categories.


Tier 1: Education

No Tier 2 categories.


Tier 1: Entertainment

Tier 2 categories:

  • Adult Entertainment

  • Casinos and Gambling

  • Media

  • Recreation

  • Social Clubs

  • Theater and Cinema

  • Tickets and Reservations

  • Venues


Tier 1: Food and Drink

Tier 2 categories:

  • Bakeries

  • Bars

  • Breweries, Distilleries, and Wineries

  • Cafes

  • Food Delivery Service

  • Restaurants

  • Specialty Foods


Tier 1: Government

Tier 2 categories:

  • Public Services

  • Taxes


Tier 1: Industrial and Energy

Tier 2 categories:

  • Agriculture and Forestry

  • Manufacturing

  • Oil and Gas

  • Renewable Energy


Tier 1: Organizations

No Tier 2 categories.


Tier 1: Professional Services

Tier 2 categories:

  • Business Services

  • Legal Services


Tier 1: Religious

No Tier 2 categories.


Tier 1: Retail

Tier 2 categories:

  • Adult Retail

  • Arts and Hobbies

  • Automotive Retail

  • Clothing and Accessories

  • Commercial Supplies

  • Computers and Electronics

  • Gas Stations

  • General Goods

  • Hardware and Home Improvement

  • Newsstands

  • Office Supplies

  • Online Marketplace

  • Outlets

  • Pharmacies

  • Specialty Retai;

  • Supermarkets and Grocery Stores

  • Vending Machine

  • Warehouses and Wholesale Stores


Tier 1: Services

Tier 2 categories:

  • Automotive Services

  • Beauty, Spas, and Salons

  • Catering

  • Clothing Services

  • Construction and Home Services

  • Delivery Services

  • Employment Services

  • Events and Event Planning

  • Funeral Services

  • Gyms, Health, and Fitness Centers

  • Household Services

  • Medical and Healthcare Services

  • Pet Services

  • Security and Safety

  • Shipping and Freight

  • Storage

  • Tourist Information and Services

  • Water and Waste Management Services


Tier 1: Technology

Tier 2 categories:

  • Advertising Technology

  • Agricultural Technology

  • Biotechnology

  • Educational Technology

  • Environmental Technology

  • Financial Technology

  • Hardware

  • Legal Technology

  • Security and Privacy

  • Software

  • Web Infrastructure


Tier 1: Travel

Tier 2 categories:

  • Landmarks

  • Lodging

  • Transportation

  • Travel Services


Tier 1: Utilities

Tier 2 categories:

  • Internet

  • Telecommunications


Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!

HoneyBook is a software company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Lincoln Savings Bank, Member FDIC. HoneyBook Visa Debit cards are issued by Lincoln Savings Bank, Member FDIC. HoneyBook is not FDIC insured. FDIC insurance only covers the failure of an insured bank.