How to record an expense ???

Peterxxxxxx

Im trying to clarify my perspective on how to record my spending on energy.
I have an account with Octopus. energy. I built up a large amount of credit. This means that I pay £1.00 to keep the account open. Money is taken from the credit in my account for the energy I consumed in that month. 

I’m unclear what I should enter into my financial records to record the amount of month that has been spent.
Any suggestions.

eskbanker

I'd have thought it depends on what you're trying to achieve - if you're looking to monitor expenditure then I'd have thought that the monthly deduction is representative of your energy spend that month, but if it's some sort of cashflow modelling that you have in mind then there may be a different answer.

grumbler

Peterxxxxxx said:

I’m unclear what I should enter into my financial records to record the amount of month that has been spent.

Your 'credit' is your asset - like any bank account with some balance.

The amount in your monthly bill is your expense.

Every month you transfer £1 from some bank account to your Octopus account and subtract the bill amount from your Octopus account.

Peterxxxxxx

I’ve entered the transaction for electricity payments. This gives me an accurate record of income and expenses.

bsms1147

3 months of electricity bills there, averages £64 per month. Assuming your electricity use is roughly the same throughout the year then the monthly £64 is roughly what the cost is.