Checklist: The correct way to complete your business expenses

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Checklist: The correct way to complete your business expenses 95% of sole traders have to claim for petrol rather than mileage because they don’t record their journeys • Are you completing your business expenses correctly?

• Do you know which advice to follow?

Not completing your business expenses correctly means you won’t be reimbursed for unclaimed expenses. Plus, you could end up paying higher VAT.

This handy checklist provides you with everything you need to know to complete your business expenses the right way:

1. Log your receipts It’s incredibly difficult for you to prove your expenses without having evidence of them. Get into the habit of capturing your receipts as you get them – it’s one of the best ways to create a clear audit trail of your expenses.

Best practice tips: • Log your receipts immediately (and make sure the dates of your receipt and expense correctly tally)

Receipts

• Photographing your receipts gives you a permanent, accurate record, plus they won’t fade over time (ink evaporates off thermal paper used for receipts) • Categorise your receipts according to the project or customer Receipts

2. Don’t muddle up your business £££ and personal expenses

Best practice tips:

Did you know you’re entitled to claim for everything that’s not a personal expense?

Getting business and personal expenses mixed up is a common mistake many sole traders make.

• Record £££ the details of your expenses before you forget them

• File your business and personal expenses separately

• Know what your allowable expenses are (for instance, many sole traders don’t realise they can claim for expenses incurred from entertaining customers)

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3. Never skimp on details It can be tempting to record the bare minimum details. However, this could cost you in the long run if the tax authorities choose to re-open your return and require more information from you.

4. Record your journeys Most sole traders wind up paying too much for travel because they mistakenly claim for petrol, not mileage. One of the main reasons for this is because they don’t keep a journey log or a record of business and private mileage.

Best practice tips: • Make sure your receipts include the amount, date, supplier’s name, details of services or goods provided, VAT or GST or any goods or service tax • Keep your VAT receipts for 3 years • Record whether your expenses are paid in cash or by personal/company credit card (some countries require this level of detail, and require that expenses above a certain amount be paid by credit card to help prevent money laundering)

Best practice tips: • Record your mileage for each journey • Log the details of who you visited • Include the purpose of your trip

About Solo Expenses Solo Expenses is the only mobile phone app specifically created to help sole traders manage their expenses – and save time and money in theipprocess. ts

Re c e

Before using Solo Expenses, our users typically spent 7 to 9 hours per month sorting their business expenses.

Now it takes them less than 30 minutes.

For more information visit www.soloexpenses.com