Accounting software vs not

[zudecke]

Lunches, mileage, parking, some beverages

[zudecke]

Then you are making more work for yourself, claim £5 for lunch, how much effort did that £1 saved cost you

I don't follow.. Enlighten a rookie!

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Then you are making more work for yourself, claim £5 for lunch, how much effort did that £1 saved cost you

If you're claiming subsistence you must also be claiming travel so I'm not sure I follow this line of thinking. If you're claiming travel it's not much more effort to claim lunch and over the course of a long contract it all adds up, especially if you're working somewhere expensive like London and commuting a fair distance.

[AnotherGuy]

If you're claiming subsistence you must also be claiming travel so I'm not sure I follow this line of thinking. If you're claiming travel it's not much more effort to claim lunch and over the course of a long contract it all adds up, especially if you're working somewhere expensive like London and commuting a fair distance.

I agree.

I pay all my lunches with the business card, so yes, several little transactions per week (between £4 and £6 usually).

I guess it might be simpler and less verbose to just apply for an allowance. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

For travel I just add together all the Oyster journeys at the end of the month and also I download the travel history from their website. I claim this as an out-of-pocket expense each month.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

I agree.

I pay all my lunches with the business card, so yes, several little transactions per week (between £4 and £6 usually).

I guess it might be simpler and less verbose to just apply for an allowance. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

For travel I just add together all the Oyster journeys at the end of the month and also I download the travel history from their website. I claim this as an out-of-pocket expense each month.

This would be a helluva lot easier in something like Freeagent. Automatic imports of transaction and an intuitive "explanation" process to code the transactions properly.

[AnotherGuy]

This would be a helluva lot easier in something like Freeagent. Automatic imports of transaction and an intuitive "explanation" process to code the transactions properly.

That's exactly why I do it, because I use freeagent and is sooo easy

Not sure I would do it if I had to use spreadsheets, like an animal

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Excel vs cloud...

But what about neither.. Just send invoices, receipts and statements over to acca and let them take care of it all?

You can do that but expect to a hefty premium for it. I reckon I'd have to charge £250 PCM to make this worthwhile. Or to scare the contractor into doing some of it himself or find someone else.

[PerfectStorm]

Then you are making more work for yourself, claim £5 for lunch, how much effort did that £1 saved cost you

As easy as taking one off the pile of receipts, inputting a date and amount into Excel and pressing enter

If I could make a pound as easily as that all the time I'd be doing it all day long. Say it takes you a generous 10 seconds per receipt, and you save £1 each time. On a 8 hour day that would be worth £360 for an hours worth, or£2,880 a day. Plus any travel and the work at home charge.

If you feel your time is better paid elsewhere, feel free!

[zudecke]

You can do that but expect to a hefty premium for it. I reckon I'd have to charge £250 PCM to make this worthwhile. Or to scare the contractor into doing some of it himself or find someone else.

Ah, I should have known - sounded too good to be true.

So in that case, Excel vs Kashflow - consensus?

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

Accounting software vs not

I don't know kashflow but it'll be better than spreadsheets that's for sure.

If you go for kashflow (or any other app) I'd recommend ensuring you get sn accountant who is on board. I expect kashflow will have a partner programme you'll be able to pick from.