Mystery Shopping Thread 25 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES

emmylc

Big_Graeme wrote: »

I take the fee as the figure for tax (unless it is a reimbursement only job like a restaurant or one of RA's toy stores where the reimbursement is what you are doing the job for) and treat everything else as expenses so I don't pay tax on them.

So basically if I do a job with a £5 fee and £5 reimbursement with 3 miles and 10 pages the declaration to the tax man would be -

5.00 - (1.35 mileage + 0.70 printing) = 2.95 declared as profit to HMRC This goes on the spreadsheet (well it works it out for me) and also has the monthly expenses for phone, internet, electricty, parking and other general expenses.

This has been checked by an accountant and is HMRC compliant as of 01/12/13, others may have a different method or account in other strange ways, this works for me.

Cool - totally in agreement there so all good, am aware the how to calculate profit/loss can be a sensitive subject on the thread so was trying not to make it sound like a question on that part.

So given we seem to be using a similar method, how do you actually hold of the expense money for printing, mileage, internet, phone etc? Do you just withdraw it as part of your profit left over at the end of the year or do you take it more regularly throughout the year?

Boredupnorth

emmylc wrote: »

Cool - totally in agreement there so all good, am aware the how to calculate profit/loss can be a sensitive subject on the thread so was trying not to make it sound like a question on that part.

So given we seem to be using a similar method, how do you actually hold of the expense money for printing, mileage, internet, phone etc? Do you just withdraw it as part of your profit left over at the end of the year or do you take it more regularly throughout the year?

All the money is yours to do with as you please until its time to pay the tax man. Its good practice to leave the tax money in a separate account though to avoid any sort falls when it comes to pay the tax. I personally calculate tax on a monthly basis and move it to a savings account that I TRY not to touch.

JohnnyG

Big_Graeme wrote: »

This goes on the spreadsheet (well it works it out for me) and also has the monthly expenses for phone, internet, electricty, parking and other general expenses.

This has been checked by an accountant and is HMRC compliant as of 01/12/13, others may have a different method or account in other strange ways, this works for me.

Not really needed, as long as you keep a decent spreadsheet with all the details you'll be fine, once the tax is paid it is all your money at the end of the day, all I do is keep a running total of what I owe to HMRC.

I have a spreadsheet that sounds similar to yours, that I enter all my figures on and it works out my profit. Have just paid my tax bill for 2012/13. Will have a much bigger tax bill for this FY though .

The only thing I do differently is claim for paper and ink cartridges, rather than pages printed.

I have a dedicated MS printer in my office so have no concerns with using it for private purposes.

emmylc

JohnnyG wrote: »

I have a spreadsheet that sounds similar to yours, that I enter all my figures on and it works out my profit. Have just paid my tax bill for 2012/13. Will have a much bigger tax bill for this FY though .

The only thing I do differently is claim for paper and ink cartridges, rather than pages printed.

I have a dedicated MS printer in my office so have no concerns with using it for private purposes.

I guess I'm lucky in some ways that I don't make enough to have to pay tax so it's having money left to pay tax is not really an issue. I'm really trying to figure out if anyone physically takes out the expenses for things like printing (when charging per page), mileage and business percentage of internet/phone from their MS account on a monthly or more frequent basis just to get an idea of what's generally done.

I was thinking I would total up my printing expenses for a calendar month and transfer that amount across from my MS bank a/c to my personal bank a/c with a reference like 'December Printing' and similarly for the total mileage each month and small percentage of broadband and phone I charge against MS so that I have the money available to help with my monthly personal cashflow since that's where those things are effectively being paid from (i.e. I buy my paper and cartridges from my personal account and then work out the relevant cost per page based on that, my fuel and day to day running of the car all comes out of my personal account as it is mainly for personal use with some business use, same with internet/phone etc).

Sounds like I should just stop worrying and go ahead and do it, as long as there's an appropriate paper trail to show what I've done

Big_Graeme

emmylc wrote: »

Cool - totally in agreement there so all good, am aware the how to calculate profit/loss can be a sensitive subject on the thread so was trying not to make it sound like a question on that part.

Oh yes, been there etc. I got my method signed off by an accountant so I'm happy that if I do get audited I'll be fine.

emmylc wrote: »

So given we seem to be using a similar method, how do you actually hold of the expense money for printing, mileage, internet, phone etc? Do you just withdraw it as part of your profit left over at the end of the year or do you take it more regularly throughout the year?

Basically the money goes into the account and the bills get paid from that, whatever is left is mine. I do always have a good idea what the net profit is but I keep a good balance in the account so I can fund future job spends so I'm never pulling down a wage as such, My MS money pays for the luxuries like the holiday and weekends way.

Big_Graeme

JohnnyG wrote: »

I have a spreadsheet that sounds similar to yours, that I enter all my figures on and it works out my profit. Have just paid my tax bill for 2012/13. Will have a much bigger tax bill for this FY though .

That means you have earned more which surely should be , I have no issues paying what is due when I have eared the money.

JohnnyG wrote: »

I have a dedicated MS printer in my office so have no concerns with using it for private purposes.

Pretty much the whole of my office is business use now, saves any bother dividing up equipment costs, when the wife gets her business up and running it will be a work only office and we'll spring for a new laserjet, only the mobile costs are now split between business and personal.

MostlyFine

Hi Everyone,

So... today I was supposed to undertake a shop for a petrol station with Gap. Emailed them at 1030 to ask for a re-schedule due to hospital appointment with Dad but no reply so went to do visit. However, when I was there I messed up and forgot to ask whether there was a bathroom - there weren't any immediately obvious. I then emailed them to ask whether I should express the evaluation or not (offered to re-shop over the next few days) and they never replied. So... do I do the questionnaire or not? I would imagine that it will need to be re-done so completing the eval will be worthless but don't know what to do.

Any advice greatly appreciated

JohnnyG

MostlyFine wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

So... today I was supposed to undertake a shop for a petrol station with Gap. Emailed them at 1030 to ask for a re-schedule due to hospital appointment with Dad but no reply so went to do visit. However, when I was there I messed up and forgot to ask whether there was a bathroom - there weren't any immediately obvious. I then emailed them to ask whether I should express the evaluation or not (offered to re-shop over the next few days) and they never replied. So... do I do the questionnaire or not? I would imagine that it will need to be re-done so completing the eval will be worthless but don't know what to do.

Any advice greatly appreciated

If you messed it up, I would be tempted to not bother with expressing the report, and push for a revisit. I find that some of my e-mails don't get read, have you tried contacting them via the enquiry option on their website?

MostlyFine

Hi,

Thanks for the reply - yep, tried both for each query today so, in all 4 attempted contacts lol.

I am thinking like you - that there is no point completing. Am sure they will contact me quickly after the deadline though

JohnnyG

MostlyFine wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the reply - yep, tried both for each query today so, in all 4 attempted contacts lol.

I am thinking like you - that there is no point completing. Am sure they will contact me quickly after the deadline though

As you say, I'm sure they'll contact you in due course. Hopefully they'll be okay about it, and allow you to revisit, after all you did make the effort to request a new date. Good luck