68 Examples of Operating Expenses

John Spacey, updated on November 20, 2021

Operating expenses, or opex, are costs related to the day-to-day functions of a business. These can be contrasted with capital expenditures that are investments in the future of a business. Valid operating expenses depend on the nature of your business whereby they are reasonable and necessary given your business model, industry and strategy. The following are common examples of operating expenses.

Accounting Fees	Administration Fees
Advertising Costs	Amortization of Intangible Assets
Bad Debt Expense	Bank Fees
Bonuses	Business Service Fees
Business Taxes	Business Travel
Cleaning Services	Compensation
Computer-related Expenses	Condominium Fees
Consulting Fees	Containers
Contract Work	Depreciation of Assets
Donations	Duty
Employee Benefit Expenses	Employee Pension Plans
Employee Training Expenses	Equipment Rentals
Facility Fees	Food, Beverages & Catering
Franchise Fees	Freight & Delivery
Fuel Costs	Garbage Removal / Waste Management
Insurance	Interest
Laboratory Services	Legal Fees
Licences & Memberships	Licensing Fees
Loan Losses	Mailing Costs
Marketing Expenses	Materials
Meals & Entertainment	Occupancy Costs
Office Supplies	Outsourcing Fees
Packaging Supplies	Payroll Tax
Professional Service Fees	Property Taxes
Rent	Repairs & Maintenance (Upkeep)
Research & Development	Restructuring Costs
Royalties	Sales Collaterals
Sales Commissions	Selling Expenses
Small Tools	Software Licenses
Storage Fees	Subscriptions
Supplies	Technology Services
Telecom Services	Uniforms
Utility Costs	Vehicle Lease / Rental
Warehouse Expense	Warranty Expenses

What is a valid operating expense for one business and industry may not be a valid operating expense for another. The test is whether an expense is normal in your industry and required to conduct your business. For example, a professional film critic might be able to expense movie tickets related to their work whereas an IT consultant might find this more difficult to explain.

It is common to exclude expenses from operating expenses if they can be directly attributed to the unit cost of a product or service known as cost of goods sold. For example, a solar panel manufacturer that doesn't include production costs in their operating expenses but instead includes this in the costs of their solar panels.

Capital expenditures are investments in the future of a firm and are typically deprecated or amortized over time whereas operating expenses are deducted immediately. It is common for minor capital expenditures to be expensed as operating expenses. For example, if a carpenter buys a $40 tool this might be expensed. If they purchase, a $50,000 vehicle, this would be a capital expenditure that can't typically be immediately expensed.

68 Examples of Operating Expenses

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