Dictionary / General expense (or burden)
What does General expense (or burden) mean in accounting?
Quick definition
GeneralAdministrative expense. This term guides how bookkeepers record, classify, and explain related transactions in routine financial reporting.
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Examples
Front-office wages stay off the job
You run a plumbing shop with a front desk and vans on the road. The April 15 payroll includes $2,175 for the office coordinator, who answers the phone, schedules techs, and enters bills in QuickBooks Online. That pay is general expense (burden): administrative expense, not a customer job, so put it on Office salaries and leave the bath remodel job and cost of sales alone. You will see the $2,175 on the payroll register and the April G&A line. Tag it to a job and that job's margin is wrong.
Shop bay rent is not this burden
You run a metalworks shop. On November 12, the industrial landlord bills $2,960 for the welding bay, and your office manager codes it to General expense because the chart still says Burden. That bay is factory expense: shop space used to make the work, not office space. Recode the $2,960 in QuickBooks Online or Xero to Factory overhead or Shop rent. In this dictionary, burden means administrative expense, not manufacturing overhead. Leave the shop lease in G&A and production looks cheap while the office looks heavy.
Why it matters
General expense, also called burden in older books, is administrative expense: office rent, office payroll, and the cost of directing the firm, not the cost of a job or the shop floor. You will code something here most months if you pay a back-office bill, whenever that spend serves the whole business rather than a customer or the plant. Shop talk often uses burden for factory overhead applied to jobs; in this dictionary it is G&A. Park shop rent or job materials on this line and cost of sales looks too light while office overhead looks heavy.
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What is General expense (or burden) in bookkeeping?
When should I use General expense (or burden)?
Use General expense (or burden) when the transaction facts match its definition and you need the ledger and financial statements to reflect the correct account and period.
What is a common mistake with General expense (or burden)?
General expense (or burden) is used for general expense (or burden) entries, while GAAP covers a related but distinct bookkeeping purpose. Review both terms before posting unusual transactions. A common mistake is applying it by label only instead of checking the underlying transaction details.