Hi. New to Quickfile, just setting up. I need to record mileage for a mobile hairdresser. Obviously I was hoping to set up mileage as a default somewhere (with the Gov mileage allowance value already applied). So I could just click mileage, enter number of miles and would automatically be included as a £ value for the P+L. Is that possible? Should I set up the mileage as a “purchase” or is there a simpler system?
Thanks
Create a new nominal in chart of accounts. Then create a journal with the milage amount and the balancing side being propriters drawings
Thanks…but I dont have the faintest idea what that means or how to do it. Appreciate your answer but I am completely new to the software and bookkeeping. Can you rephrase?
You can create a new nominal by following this guide: Adding a new nominal account
You can then create a journal for the amount needed - journals need to balance so you would have one side going to the new mileage nominal and the balancing side to your proprietors drawings (bank account)
There is a guide on journals here: Journals
Hi Beth
Thanks so much, very detailed. I’m going to lean on your obvious desire to help, sorry, you’re penalised for being helpful. I just want to check this is the only way to do this. I really just want the most simple solution for a sales and costs (P+L) for self assessment for my wife. I dont want links to bank account. Sales are easy (“enter cash register” right?) and there are few costs (materials would be via same supplier but various items - “Enter new purchase” right? The category being the same as the nominal code) I can then just generate a P+L from that. The only complication is the mileage where I want to enter number of miles and have a value per mile calculated automatically- Is the journal option the only way to do this? I’ll be honest the need to make it balance as an individual item to proprietors drawings is beyond my understanding. I’ll get there but before I spend time on it I just want to make sure its the right way to do this. Thanks. I’m pretty bright, just not experienced with bookkeeping, so I’m sure it will make sense with a nudge in the right direction 
No problem at all - we’re here to help you get the most out of QuickFile!
We do have a guide specifically on mileage which may be a help: Business mileage expense
You can enter the milage and notes as part of a purchase invoice to a generic supplier. As it’s a purchase invoice, this will still be included in the profit and loss report.
This looks at paying the invoice (balancing it with the proprietor’s account), which hopefully helps you out there too.
But of course, if you need further help - please don’t hesitate to let us know
Thanks Matthew. Really impressed with the speed of support so far from Quickfile. I’ll take a look
Hi. OK that helps with where to put mileage as a purchase cost/ category but, unless I’m mistaken, I need her to add “£1.35” as a purchase value for a 3 mile journey (assuming 45p/mile). I really wanted that she added “3” for a 3 mile journey and the value per mile would already be entered and calculated. I need this to be as simple as possible. I guess this isn’t possible looking at the guides. They seem to suggest adding a £ value entry, not a mileage unit. Is that right?
That’s correct. So your description would be something like:
Travel from Office to Client A, plus return
12 miles @ £0.45 per mile
And then record the milage as the monetary value (£5.62 in this case).
Ah, that’s disappointing, I would have thought entering a number of units of a set price item would be a basic need. This would be super easy in excel so I think I need to reconsider the value of using the software. I’m sure its very able but this makes a very simple requirement into a bit of work that she really won’t thank me for. Thanks anyway
For sales, yes, it is a basic need and has always been supported, but for purchases all that really matters is the totals. The purchase side of QuickFile is set up around the assumption that you’re recording transactions for which you have been sent an invoice or receipt by a supplier, that invoice or receipt is the primary record and all QuickFile needs to record is the total (net and VAT) for the transaction, optionally broken down by category if it’s a purchase covering different things.
Having to enter unit prices and quantities is a pain in this case, you don’t want QuickFile to calculate totals for you, you need the totals to match the invoice from your supplier.
Purchase Orders are different, there the quantity column is supported because the purpose of those is different, they’re a document you send to your supplier to tell them how many items you want to buy, rather than a record of how much money the supplier charged you when you bought them.
There is a feature request asking for the quantity field to be an option on purchases but in most cases it’s irrelevant.
Thanks Ian. Sure, I understand it may not be of use to most but I would have thought being able to match a PO in the purchases would be a good option. So, forgive me, I’m at work and not really exploring the software but is there a PO section? You’ve referred to it but I can’t see it. And for the purposes of Self Assessment can this not be pulled in as a cost from the PO?
The purchase orders feature isn’t enabled by default, you have to switch it on via account settings → advanced settings. And actually, using a purchase order could be a nice workaround for you here - create a draft purchase order at the start of a month (say) and gradually add mileage lines to it as you make trips, then at the end of the month “convert to invoice” to convert the PO into an actual purchase, and mark it as paid from the drawings account.
Thanks Ian. That seems to be a good workaround. Found the inventory management area so will give it a whirl. Great suggestion, thanks
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