HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) general rule for claiming expenses is that they must be wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in performing your duties. If an expense has duality of purpose (i.e. it is for personal and business use), it cannot be claimed. All business expenses need to be claimed correctly even if the business has paid for it direct, It is also important to note that HMRC requires that you keep all original receipts for any expenses claimed for a period of 6 years. Information on the most common types of expenses can be found on our “Guide to Claiming Expenses”.
Expenses are shown on the monthly business snapshot under the expenditure section. As the expenditure section shows all transactions in/out of the business account in relation to the previous month, it will only show expenses if your company has reimbursed you the expense value as the employee. If your company has incurred a £10 expense which you have paid for personally, you should submit the expense claim to QAccounting and your company should reimburse the £10 to yourself as the Director and employee.
A business expense may also not appear on the snapshot if you don’t bank with one of our preferred business banking providers; HSBC, Cater Allen or RBS, as we may not have “read only” access to your business account. Therefore, it’s important you email your copy business bank statements by the 5th of the following month to allow us to reconcile your account and accurately record all transactions. For purchases made via a Business Credit Card, copies of the credit card statements are required.
How to Submit an Expense Claim
- Complete and sign Expense Claim Form, giving details of all the separate expenses you wish to claim. (Blank expense claim forms are available on the client portal).
- When claiming mileage, you must also submit a supporting and signed Mileage Claim Log.
- You must submit receipts (scanned copies are acceptable) for all the relevant expenses that require them. These receipts should be dated & have a relevant VAT registration number on them. We cannot process any expenses where the receipt is unclear or cannot be read.
- Email the expense claim form with all supporting receipts to us from your preferred email address within 30 days of you incurring the expense. This keeps all records up to date and helps us process your expenses and reconcile you business accounts in an efficient and timely manner.
For more information on how our accounting services can help you manage your business expenses, get in touch today with one of our friendly experts!
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