All plans, including Free
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iOS, Android, web
Custom Activity Categories let you label each REPSLog entry with the kind of work it was: maintenance, tenant communication, legal, or a category you name yourself. They are built for real estate investors logging hours for REPS or the STR loophole, and they work the same on iPhone, Android and the web app.
What it does
REPSLog ships with 13 built-in categories: Administrative, Tenant Communication, Guest Relations, Property Maintenance, Property Improvements, Rental Management, Marketing, Property Selling, Property Acquisition, Property Development, Operations, Legal and Other. Each one carries a Default badge. You cannot rename or delete a built-in category (the app tells you “Default categories cannot be edited”), but you can hide any of them so they stay out of your pickers.
On top of those you add your own. Open Settings, tap Manage Entry Categories, then + Add a New Category. The form has one field, Category Name, and one button, Add Category. Names must be unique; if you reuse one, REPSLog answers “Category name already exists”. Your categories carry a Custom badge, appear at the top of the list, and can be renamed later from the Edit Category sheet with Save Category.
The Manage Entry Categories screen is where everything else happens:
Reorder by dragging. Each row has a grip handle once you have more than one category. The order you set here is the order the Category picker uses on the entry form, so put your most common work at the top. Drag works on mobile and on the web app.
Hide and show. Tap the eye button on a row. The row dims and drops out of the picker for new entries. Tap it again to bring it back. Hiding never touches the entries that already use the category.
Delete a custom category. Swipe the row on mobile, or open the category and tap the trash icon. REPSLog asks “Would you like to delete this category?” and warns that all assigned entries will remain without a category. Those entries keep their hours, description and property; only the label is cleared, and the entry log shows their category as None.
On the entry form the Category field is optional: pick one, clear it, or tap + Add a New Category inside the picker. The entry log can be filtered by category, and every export (CSV and PDF) includes a Category column, so the label follows the hour all the way to your tax file.
How it works
Open Settings and tap Manage Entry Categories (iPhone and Android show it in the settings list; the web app shows the same screen with the add button at the top).
Tap + Add a New Category, type a name such as “Insurance Claims” in Category Name, and tap Add Category. The new row appears at the top with a Custom badge.
Press and hold the grip handle on any row and drag it to where you want it. On the web app, click and drag the same handle. The order saves on release.
Tap the eye button on any built-in category you never use. It dims and disappears from the picker.
Log an entry. In the Category field, choose from your ordered, unhidden list, or leave it blank.
Later, open the entry log filter, choose one or more categories, and see just those hours. Export your log and the Category column is there for your CPA.
Why it matters for your hours
The 750-hour REPS test and the 500-hour and 100-hour material participation tests are about time spent on real property trades or businesses. A log that says “3 hours, 14 Oak Street” is thinner evidence than “3 hours, 14 Oak Street, Property Maintenance, coordinated roof repair”. Categories are the cheapest way to make every entry self-explanatory, and because they are applied at the moment you log, the record stays contemporaneous instead of reconstructed at tax time.
They also make review faster. Filter by Legal to see the hours spent on evictions, or sort the exported CSV on the Category column to show your CPA how the year breaks down by type of work. Whether a given activity counts toward your tests is a question for your CPA; the category just makes the question easy to ask.
If you are a short-term rental host using the STR loophole, categories are how a 100-hour log for one property reads like a business record. The built-in Guest Relations covers messaging and check-ins; a custom category such as “Turnover” or “Restocking” labels the rest. On the STR view of the dashboard, Total Hours by Category breaks the year’s STR hours down by that label, next to the per-property hours / 100 rows. The cleaner’s turnover hours go in with Cleaner as the participant, so the category says what kind of work was done while the participant says who did it, which is the comparison the 100-hour test asks for.
Good to know
Plan limits count only your custom categories. Free includes 1 custom category, Starter 4, Premium unlimited. The 13 built-in ones are free on every plan and do not count. When you reach your limit, + Add a New Category opens the upgrade screen and a banner appears at the bottom of the list.
Available on iPhone, Android and the web app, with the same list synced to one account.
Short-term rental hosts use the same list. Guest Relations is built in, and any custom category works for STR entries. The STR view of the dashboard breaks STR hours down by category separately from LTR.
Category is optional on an entry. An entry with no category still counts its hours; it simply shows None in the log and a blank Category cell in the export.
Hiding is reversible and lossless. Hidden categories stay attached to past entries and come back when you tap the eye again.
Deleting is not undoable. Entries that used the deleted category are kept, with the category cleared.
Read-only access sees but cannot change. If you are viewing someone else’s account as a read-only delegate, the add, reorder, hide and delete controls are not shown.
No AI setting affects categories. Names are stored with your log and included in your exports.
Frequently asked questions
Can I create my own activity categories in REPSLog?
Yes. Go to Settings, Manage Entry Categories, tap + Add a New Category, enter a name and tap Add Category. Free includes 1 custom category, Starter 4, Premium unlimited.
Can I rename or delete the built-in categories?
No. Built-in categories carry a Default badge and cannot be edited or deleted. You can hide any of them with the eye button so they no longer appear when you log an entry.
What happens to my entries if I delete a category?
The entries stay. REPSLog clears the category on each one, and they show None in the entry log. Hours, dates, descriptions and attachments are untouched.
Do REPS hour categories show up in my export?
Yes. Both the CSV and the PDF in your export have a Category column, so your CPA can see the type of work next to every hour.
Can I change the order categories appear in when I log an entry?
Yes. Drag rows on the Manage Entry Categories screen using the grip handle. The picker on the entry form follows that order.
Can I add a Turnover category for my short-term rental?
Yes. Add “Turnover” from Manage Entry Categories and pick it on the entry, or use the built-in Guest Relations. The STR view’s Total Hours by Category card shows the split, and the Category column travels into the str_entries export files.
Are custom categories a good alternative to a fixed activity list?
They sit on top of one. REPSLog ships built-in categories for long-term and short-term rentals and lets you add your own, so a turnover checklist or a renovation phase gets its own name in the log and the export.
Related features
Learn more
Step-by-step screenshots for adding, reordering, hiding and deleting categories are in How to Manage Your Categories and Participants.
Watch it: How to add, rename and delete categories on the REPSLog YouTube channel.
From the blog: What categories should a REPS hours log use?.
Try REPSLog free for 14 days on iOS, Android or the web app.