How do I configure ExpenseBot to track realtor expenses?

Tracking Realtor Expenses in ExpenseBot

ExpenseBot has a dedicated realtor flow that solves two problems generic expense trackers don't:

1. Realtor-specific category breakdown. Realtors don't argue about whether to spend on marketing — they need to know which realtor-specific activities are eating their net commission. Five pre-built tags slice the way every realtor tax checklist (NAR, KW, Mercer, RealTrends) groups the work.
2. Schedule C-ready at tax time. The tags map cleanly to IRS Schedule C line items. Your accountant can drop the totals straight into your return — no re-categorization required.

Step 1 — Create the 5-tag bundle

1. Go to Settings → Manage Tags
2. Click ✨ Create a Tag with AI
3. Type something like: "realtor expenses — MLS, NAR dues, staging, closing gifts, CE courses"
4. The wizard detects realtor intent and offers to create five tags automatically:
   • Realtor – MLS — MLS fees, NAR/state board dues, E&O insurance, license renewal, lockbox (Supra, ShowingTime)
   • Realtor – Gifts — closing gifts, housewarming baskets, thank-you cards, holiday gifts (IRS $25/client/year limit)
   • Realtor – Listings — home staging, professional photography, drone footage, virtual tours, yard signs, open house supplies
   • Realtor – CE — continuing education courses, designations (GRI, CRS, ABR), conferences, coaching, training books
   • Realtor – Tech — CRM (Follow Up Boss, kvCORE), DocuSign, ShowingTime, Canva, scheduling apps
5. Hit Save — every future receipt sorts itself automatically. Existing receipts from the last 90 days are retroactively tagged. You'll see a toast like "5 tags saved. Applied to 37 existing receipts across all tags."

Step 2 — Forward receipts as you normally would

No extra steps. Your existing forwarding flows (Gmail auto-scan, receipts@expensebot.ai forwarding, photo upload) all work the same. Each receipt lands in one of the 5 realtor tags based on merchant content.

Examples of what lands where:

• Vistaprint business cards → Realtor – Listings (print marketing)
• NAR annual dues → Realtor – MLS
• Williams Sonoma closing gift basket → Realtor – Gifts
• Inman News conference → Realtor – CE
• Follow Up Boss subscription → Realtor – Tech

If the AI misses a receipt: Add TAG:Realtor – Gifts (or any specific tag name) to the forwarding subject — this overrides AI matching. Useful for cash payments or receipts with generic merchant names.

Step 3 — Run your reports at tax time

Once you're tagged as a realtor, two dedicated reports appear on My Reports → Suggested Reports without any setup. Both run as a two-step preview, so you see the answer in-app before deciding whether to spawn a Google Sheet:

• Realtor Commission P&L — pick a tax year, click Preview, and see your gross income, total expenses, and net commission as stat cards plus a per-bucket breakdown (MLS, Gifts, Listings, CE, Tech, Mileage). Generate spawns a Schedule C / T2125 spreadsheet for your accountant. Useful for quarterly check-ins and end-of-year review.
• Realtor Gift Limit Checker — pick a tax year, click Preview, and see red chips for any client over the IRS §274(b) $25/client/year cap (or large gifts flagged for CRA reasonableness review in Canada), plus your deductible vs non-deductible split. Generate spawns the audit spreadsheet for your accountant.

For year-end Schedule C / T2125 filing, use the Year-End Tax Report — it covers your full expense set (insurance, rent, utilities, professional fees, etc.) which the realtor-bundle-only reports don't include.

You can still run the generic tag-based reports anytime:

• Full Schedule C worksheet: My Reports → Create Report → Report by Tag → select all five "Realtor –" tags
• Single category (e.g., how much did I spend on closing gifts this year?): Report by Tag → "Realtor – Gifts"
• Cross-check with mileage: Your mileage tracker stays separate and maps to its own Schedule C line (Car and truck expenses)

Each "Realtor –" tag maps to a specific Schedule C line:

Why five categories instead of one "Realtor" tag?

One "Realtor" tag gives you "$18,000 spent" — useful for nobody. Five tags let you actually see where the money goes: "Am I spending too much on staging? Is my CRM subscription paying for itself?" Every top realtor tax-deduction checklist (NAR, KW Outfront, RealTrends, Mercer Advisors, ReceiptLyzer) groups realtor work into these same five buckets. Every vendor type belongs in exactly one.

Why not a "Marketing" tag?

ExpenseBot already has an Expense Account called "Advertising and Marketing" that maps to Schedule C Line 8. Adding a "Realtor – Marketing" tag would duplicate the same dimension and split your data. Listing-specific marketing (staging, photography, yard signs) goes into Realtor – Listings; generic branding (business cards, website hosting, Facebook ads) keeps the Advertising Account with a "Business" tag.

What about mileage?

Mileage has its own dedicated tracker in ExpenseBot and maps to Schedule C Line 9 (Car and truck expenses). No realtor mileage tag is needed.

What if I already have a "Realtor" tag?

No problem. The wizard only creates tags you don't already have. Your existing tag keeps working alongside the new ones.

Does this work for commercial agents, property managers, or real estate investors?

Commercial agents — yes, the same five tags apply. Property managers who manage rental properties and real estate investors who own rentals have different needs (per-property tracking, Schedule E) — that's a separate feature we're building.

Works for any service profession

The same category-split approach works for:

• Wedding expenses — 5 tags covering attire, venue, vendors, stationery, honeymoon (already shipped)
• Home renovation — contractor, materials, appliances
• Baby expenses — nursery, medical, gear

For realtor-specific features (5-tag bundle mapped to Schedule C), the wizard only triggers when it detects realtor intent in your description.