Incidentals

Incidentals refer to minor, secondary, or auxiliary expenses or items that are often unexpected and difficult to anticipate. They are costs that are supplementary to a primary or main expense. These may be small items, such as travel costs, stationery, or miscellaneous fees. The term often arises in accounting, where incidentals are categorized separately from major expenditures. incidentals vary depending on the context but generally imply costs of lower significance than primary budget allocation. They are frequently unpredictable, requiring flexible budgets and careful expense tracking to manage. They do not define the primary function but can contribute to it.

Incidentals meaning with examples

• During my trip to Europe, I budgeted for airfare, accommodation, and major attractions, but 'incidentals' like local transportation, snacks, and souvenir shopping added up quickly. Managing these unforeseen costs stretched my travel budget thin. I learned the importance of setting a daily allowance to cover incidentals.
• The project manager tracked the major construction costs, but the 'incidentals' related to permits, site clean-up, and the cost of daily coffee and doughnuts for the crew accumulated quickly. Without careful tracking, these seemingly small costs can blow out the project budget by quite a bit and cause the project to need to request additional capital.
• When moving apartments, the cost of renting a truck and paying the movers were my primary expenses. However, the 'incidentals', such as packing tape, boxes, and the cleaning supplies needed to prepare my old apartment for return to its original condition, added to the overall expense and took time.
• The company conference covered the cost of hotels and meals, but each employee was expected to cover their 'incidentals', such as taxi fares to and from the airport and any personal shopping during their free time. Proper reimbursement forms with all receipts were required to reclaim these expenses.