How do I credit an expense account for personal fuel which is not actually linked to a bank account

Hello there, @MAS HD. I appreciate you for posting your concern in the Community forum.

You can enter a manual transaction such as a split transaction in your QuickBooks Self-Employed account. However, I'd recommend consulting a tax advisor. This ensures you'll be using the correct category. They can assist you with this and help you keep everything accurate in your account. 

You can refer to these articles as your guide in categorizing other transactions:

• Categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed.
• Custom categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed.

Please feel free to leave a message on this thread if you have more questions. I'll be here to provide more details as I can. Take care always.

Thanks for your response.  This account doesn't give me the option of manually adding transactions.  I don't think a split transaction is what I'm after here, here is the scenario:

I have a fuel receipt for £54 (including VAT) which I have paid for with a personal bank account not within QuickBooks Online.  I enter the £54 into Quickbooks as an expense (not as an actual bank transaction) so that my VAT return includes the £10.80 of VAT.

For my self-assessment tax return, I can only claim the business proportion of the fuel as an expense.  The full fuel receipt is £43.20 (having subtracted the VAT).  I can claim £36.72 of this as an expense (£6.48 is personal fuel).  

I therefore want to be able to record a transaction into this account (which is not an actual bank transaction) of -£6.48).

How can I do this?

Thanks

Hi MAS HD, you can manually add the transaction on the web by selecting add transaction - this will then post to the default 'Cash' account which is used for transactions that have not been downloaded through a live bank connection. We're unable to advise on the specific category/account that this would be posted against and so we'd recommend reaching out to your bookkeeper/accountant if you're unsure. :)

Thanks for replying.  When I select the account I don't get a button to Add a transaction.  Which screen are you referring to?

I'm here to ensure you'll be able to add transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE), @MAS HD.

In QBSE, you'll see the Add transaction button on the Transactions page. Please see the steps I've outlined below:

1. In your QBSE account, select the Transactions menu at the left pane.
2. From there, click the Add transaction button located in the upper right corner.
3. The fields for transactions will appear. Input the necessary details in the boxes.
4. Then, choose the appropriate category for that transaction.
5. Once done, click Save to confirm the action.

For your reference about the process, feel free to visit this article: Manually add transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed. This also includes steps on how you can add transactions to your Android and iOS device.

Just in case you'll want QBSE to automatically categorize transactions for you, you can set up bank rules. When you have similar types of transactions from the same client or vendor, this method works best.

Don't hesitate to post your reply below if you have additional questions about adding transactions in QBSE. I'd be glad to help you once more. Have a great week ahead. 

Hello,

Thanks for your help, as mentioned in a previous reply, I don't have the option of adding a transaction.  I am sure it must be me misunderstanding something, is it possible to speak to you about this?

Thanks

Kim

Hi Kim, the option to add a transaction is on the transactions screen when accessing on a web browser, if you're unable to view this, please come and chat with us using this link where we'll be able to set up a remote screen share to view this with you. :woman_technologist:

Having clicked on the link and chatting with someone it has materialised that the answers you gave to me are based on the Quickbooks Self-employed version whereas I am using the Online version.

Are you able to help with my query based on the online version please?

Hi Kim, you can record expense transactions in QuickBooks Online by selecting the + New icon > Expense, or via a journal entry - we're unable to advise on which specific accounts you would use on the transaction itself, so if you're unsure we'd recommend contacting your bookkeeper/accountant for best practice. :)