Completely confused! Entering business miles for Sole Trader

[devonshiredollop]

Hi guys,

I’m completely confused as to how to enter business miles into Quickfile! I’ve read all the info in previous threads, but not being accountancy minded I need someone to firmly tell me what I need to do.

I’m a sole trader on markets and at food fairs, sometimes selling online, and started on 6/4/15. My bank account is joint with my wife, and is private, not business. I have created a new supplier - Approved Mileage Allowance Payments - and enter in each journey I make on a day (or do I enter the total amount covered that day? Or do I enter the miles each day in my diary, totalling them at the end of the month and make one invoice?) . How then do I pay myself, and what do I enter? I’m not actually planning on taking this money out of the business, simply use it against the total tax bill I may/may not have at the end of the tax year.

Please would you be so kind as to WALK me through the process of entering the details, where/when I do this, and how I claim the payment, or offset the tax. I’m sorry if I’m being a little dim, but this whole area completely confuses me! Thanks for your help.

[ian_roberts]

No actual money needs to move around, you just raise a purchase invoice for the appropriate amount (number of miles multiplied by HMRC mileage rate), make sure the nominal code (left column) is set to “travelling”, and then mark the invoice as paid from the proprietor drawings account. This will cause the mileage allowance to show as an expense in your profit and loss report, which is what you (or your accountant) will use to generate the figures for your tax return.

[Glenn]

The threads on mileage claims are a bit of a mish-mash… We subsequently created a knowledgebase article a few months back, did you see this?

http://help.quickfile.co.uk/main/1/business_mileage.htm