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Category Report

Jonathan Schuyler
Updated

Key takeaways

  • The Category Report shows your purchases for a date range, broken down by invoice and by Category.
  • Find it under Performance > Category Report.
  • By default, it shows only invoices that have finished processing (Closed and Pending Approval).
  • It shows purchases, not Cost of Goods Sold, so it is not expected to match your P&L.

What is the Category Report?

The Category Report in MarginEdge shows your purchases for a selected date range, broken down by invoice and by Category. Use the Category Report to see how much you spent in each Category, check how each invoice was coded, and view or download invoice images. The Category Report is also referred to as spend by category, purchases by category, or the invoice coding report.

How to open the Category Report

  1. From the main menu, select Performance.
  2. Select Category Report.

MarginEdge Performance menu with the Category Report option highlighted.

Category Report settings

The Category Report has these settings at the top of the page. Each setting is described below.

Date range

Choose Current Period, Previous Period, Current Year, Previous Year, or a custom date range. The preset ranges follow the accounting periods set for your restaurant unit. To learn how accounting periods are set, see Can I change my accounting periods in MarginEdge?

Invoices or Categories layout

Choose Invoices to show each invoice as a row with Categories as columns, which is easiest to read on screen. Choose Categories to show each Category as a row, which is easiest to export and work with in a spreadsheet.

Only Complete Invoices or All Invoices

Only Complete Invoices is the default. It shows invoices in Closed and Pending Approval status.

All Invoices also includes invoices still in processing: Image Pending, EDI Pending, In Reconciliation, Final Review, and AM Review. Coding on invoices still in processing may change.

Vendor filter

The default is all vendors. Choose one vendor to show only that vendor's invoices.

MarginEdge Categories or Accounting Categories

MarginEdge Categories is the default. Accounting Categories shows the accounting system account instead. The Accounting Categories option appears only when an accounting system is connected and Categories are mapped. To learn how these differ, see General Ledger Accounts, Categories, and Category Types.

View Invoices and Export As

View Invoices opens the invoice images for the invoices in the report. Export As exports the report as a CSV file, using the filters and settings currently applied.

The Category Report remembers your settings the next time you open it.


Category Report settings bar showing the date range selector, Invoices/Categories toggle, Only Complete Invoices/All Invoices filter, Vendor filter, MarginEdge Categories/Accounting Categories selector, View Invoices button, and Export As button.

How to read the Category Report

With the default settings, each row of the Category Report is one invoice. Each row shows:

  • Invoice number and vendor name
  • Processing status
  • Accounting system sync status
  • Invoice total
  • The amount coded to each Category

The bottom row shows the total for each Category across the date range. A few things to know about the totals:

  • Only Categories with balances in the date range appear as columns. There are no $0 columns.
  • If a Product is split across more than one Category (for example, 75% Beer and 25% Produce), its cost is split across those Categories using the same percentages.
  • Credits and invoice adjustments appear as their own rows.
  • If an invoice is edited after it closes, the Category totals update.
Category Report grid with one row per invoice showing invoice number, vendor, status, sync status, invoice total, and Category amounts, with Category totals in the bottom row.

How to see the line-item coding for an invoice

  1. On the Category Report, select an invoice row. The invoice's Category breakdown opens.
  2. Review each line item and the Category it was coded to.
  3. Review how taxes, delivery, other charges, and credits were distributed across Categories.
  4. To open the full order, select the link to the Order page.
  5. To see the original invoice, select the invoice image.
Category breakdown for a single invoice showing each line item with its Category, and how taxes, delivery, and credits were distributed.

How to view or download invoice images from the Category Report

  1. Set the date range and any filters for the invoices you want.
  2. Select View Invoices. The invoice images open in a viewer.
  3. To save the images, select Download PDF.

If an invoice's image was deleted, the viewer shows "No Image Available." For bulk downloads and more options, see How to download PDFs of invoice images.

How to export the Category Report to CSV

  1. Set the date range, layout, and filters you want in the export.
  2. Select Export As.
  3. Select CSV.

Troubleshooting the Category Report

An invoice is missing from the Category Report

Work through these checks in order:

  1. Check the invoice status filter. Switch from Only Complete Invoices to All Invoices. If the invoice appears, it's still processing and will show by default once it closes.
  2. Check the date range. Widen the date range to include the invoice date.
  3. Check the Vendor filter. Set the Vendor filter to all vendors.
  4. Check the invoice date. Only invoices with an invoice date appear on the Category Report. Open the invoice from the Orders page to confirm it has one.
  5. Still missing? Submit a support request with the vendor name and invoice number.

Category totals look wrong

  1. Check the invoice status filter. With All Invoices selected, totals include invoices whose coding isn't final yet.
  2. Check the Categories view. MarginEdge Categories and Accounting Categories can group amounts differently.
  3. Check the line-item coding. Select the invoice row and review the Category for each line item.
  4. Check for split Products. A Product assigned to more than one Category splits its cost by percentage.
  5. Comparing to your P&L? The two reports measure different things. See the FAQ below.

Frequently asked questions about the Category Report

Why doesn't my Category Report match my P&L?

The Category Report shows purchases. The Controllable P&L shows Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), which accounts for inventory:

  • Starting Inventory + Purchases − Ending Inventory = COGS

Example: A restaurant tracks one period of wine purchases.

  • Starting inventory: 5 bottles, worth $50 total
  • Purchases: one case of 12 bottles, costing $120
  • Ending inventory: 10 bottles, worth $100 total
  • COGS: 50 + 120 − 100 = $70

The Category Report shows purchases of $120.

The P&L shows COGS of $70.

To learn more, see COGS Explained.

Why did my Category totals change?

Category totals change when invoices finish processing or when a closed invoice is edited.

Which invoices does the Category Report include by default?

By default, the Category Report includes invoices in Closed and Pending Approval status.

Can I download invoice images from the Category Report?

Yes. Select View Invoices, then Download PDF.

Who can see the Category Report?

All users can see the Category Report page. Using a Shared Device does not allow access to the Category Report page.

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