Profit and Loss

[littlesnuggler]

I've just been going through my sales and writing down what has been sold and when and also Ebay and Paypal fees.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how I work out total profit and loss for the Inland Revenue please? :confused:

[icecreamgirl]

I don't think it's a case of profit and loss to start with...
You write down everything you've spent on the business, materials bills etc, then you write down how much money has come in to you by way of sales.
Subtract the first one from the second one and there's your profit.... (remember that most businesses make a loss to start with (ie the figure you are subtracting is bigger because of all your start up costs....
That's the figure the tax man wants to know about, so basically the more materials, bills etc you can show you've paid out, the less 'profit' you've made, and hopefully small tax bill (or none at all)!!!!
Have i explained that right?
Not sure if i'm making sense

[Katianne]

That's what I'm doing - I keep all the invoices for both sales and purchases, plus I have a book for recording sales and dates (it makes it a bit more fun, having something just for sales too!!!)

[Potter Doodle Doo]

You shouldn't need to provide anything until requested to do so by Inland Revenue. You should receive a tax form to complete with the information. If you have one and struggle with it, PM me and I'll ask Jon (accountant hubby) to guide you thro it.

[GeorgeBee]

I have a excel workbook set up with bank payments/receipts, petty cash payments/receipts, bank recociliations, debtors and prepayments, creditors and accruals, income and expenditure acc and trading, profit and loss account templates. All with the formulas set up, all you have to do is adjust it for you business and enter your figures! Let me know if you want it emailing it to you!

[littlesnuggler]

We haven't got Excel but I've been recording all my 'ins' and 'outs' up to the year end so I think I've got the gist. Still waiting for my Tax Return from the IR. Shall I just file it online anyway?

[mjbelkin]

We haven't got Excel but I've been recording all my 'ins' and 'outs' up to the year end so I think I've got the gist. Still waiting for my Tax Return from the IR. Shall I just file it online anyway?

Have you told them you need to file a return - they don't just automatically 'know', the responsibility lies on the individual to inform them. Not really fair, but this is the Revenue we're talking about ;)

[willowc]

I have a excel workbook set up with bank payments/receipts, petty cash payments/receipts, bank recociliations, debtors and prepayments, creditors and accruals, income and expenditure acc and trading, profit and loss account templates. All with the formulas set up, all you have to do is adjust it for you business and enter your figures! Let me know if you want it emailing it to you!

I would be interested in something like this, I have a paper accounts system but I want to do it on my pc as well or even instead of, I have excel but I am not really good with it but if the formulas are all set up it should be easy enough even for me to use.

[colourart]

I was sent a tax return form and it looks very daunting, but I am simply recording incoming and outgoings and when I sit down and have a look at it I'm hoping all becomes clear. I'm sure it will as everything I'm doing is quite simple at the moment. I'm keeping all the paperwork to prove my claims if needed.

I still think its alot to go through just to sell a few paintings here and there, but there you go thats life I suppose. :sm:

[beadsbydesign]

A great start to being self employed is to attend a course at the inland revenue. They are free and go through the basics of book keeping. They also offer you a friendly face to help with any problems you might experience during your first couple of years.

The IR also have several useful publications with some good basic advice.
As Melanie says, you have to inform them that you are working as a self employed person.

[Tigerhair]

GeorgeBee
I would really love one of those excel spreadsheets you have. Would you send me one?
Thanks