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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
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---
title: View the Top Categories report
description: Learn how Workspace Admins, Approvers, and Auditors can use the Top Categories report to understand category-level spending trends.
keywords: [New Expensify, Top Categories, expense categories, category spending, monthly spending, Workspace Admin, Approver, Auditor, category insights, expense analytics, report by category]
internalScope: Audience is Workspace Admins, Approvers, and Auditors. Covers using the Top Categories suggested search to view expense totals by category. Does not cover employee-level analysis or merchant-level grouping.
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# View the Top Categories report

The **Top Categories** report shows which expense categories had the highest total spend last month. It’s an easy way to:

- Understand where the most money is being spent
- Spot trends without exporting data
- Make data-driven budget decisions with less effort

This report is a pre-built suggested search that uses filters to group your expenses by category.

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## Who can use the Top Categories report

The Top Categories report is available to Workspace Admins, Approvers, and Auditors on both web and mobile.
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Top Categories is available to all workspace members. Members would just see their own categories.


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## Where to find the Top Categories report

**Web:**
Click **Reports** in the left navigation, then click **Top categories** under the **Insights** section

**Mobile:**
Tap **Reports** from the navigation tabs on the bottom, then tap the hamburger menu in the top-right corner. Under **Insights**, tap **Top categories**.

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## What the Top Categories report shows

The Top Categories report is powered by Expensify’s search query engine using grouping and filters. The report shows:

- All **expense categories** sorted by total spend in the last month
- The **total amount spent** in each category
- The **number of expenses** in each category

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## How to interpret the Top Categories report

Each row represents a single expense category, sorted in descending order by total spend. Columns include:

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P2 Badge Avoid claiming Top Categories is sorted by spend

The Top Categories suggested search is built with createTopSearchMenuItem, which sets sortBy to GROUP_CATEGORY and sortOrder to ASC when grouping by category (SearchUIUtils.ts:470-482). That means the default result ordering is alphabetical, not by total spend, so statements that it’s sorted in descending spend (or shows the highest spend categories) are inaccurate.

Useful? React with 👍 / 👎.

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this is not true

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Haha agreed.

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We've got the bar chart view on staging, which means once that gets to prod, we'll ship this PR to make the Top categories view a bar chart by default: #81074


- **Number of expenses** in the category
- **Total amount spent** in that category

Click any row to view all expenses tied to that category.

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## How to customize the Top Categories report

You can adjust filters like status, expense type or employee to explore spending trends.

The Top Categories report is a suggested search template. You cannot save changes directly to this report, but you can create a custom version.

To create and save a custom report:

1. Go to the **Reports** or **Expenses** tab.
2. Use filters to adjust the category grouping or timeframe.
3. Apply filters and click **Save search** to save your custom report.

[Learn how to create custom reports](https://help.expensify.com/articles/new-expensify/reports-and-expenses/Using-Reports-in-New-Expensify#How-to-use-Reports-search-query-commands)

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## Ways to use the Top Categories report

Workspace Admins and finance teams use the Top Categories report to:

- Monitor which expense categories are driving most of the spend
- Quickly compare expense volume by category
- Make budget and policy decisions without needing spreadsheets

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# FAQ

## Can I export the Top Categories report?

The Top Categories report can’t be exported with its grouped totals or summary data directly. However, if you expand each group to reveal the individual expenses, you can then select those expenses and use Export to CSV to download the raw data.

To export expenses:

1. Go to the **Reports** or **Expenses** tab.
2. Use filters to group by category and apply the same timeframe.
3. Expand the category group, select the expenses, and click **Export to CSV**.

## What’s the difference between the Top Categories report and the Top Spenders report?

The **Top Categories** report shows the highest-spending **expense categories**, while the **Top Spenders** report shows which **employees** submitted the most expenses. Both reports help identify trends, but from different perspectives:

- Use **Top Categories** to track spending by type (e.g., Travel, Meals).
- Use **Top Spenders** to track who is submitting the most expenses.

## How is the Top Categories report calculated?

The report uses all expenses from the previous calendar month and groups them by category. It shows the **top 10 categories** based on total spend.

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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ Supported groupings include:
- `group-by:from`
- `group-by:card`
- `group-by:withdrawal-id`
- `group-by:category`

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