Van purchase

Hi there, Ben1991.

Thank you for visiting again the QuickBooks Community. I'll be sharing details on how categorising entries works in QuickBooks Self Employed. Then, to ensure you're able to enter the van purchased in the system correctly.

When you categorise entries, QuickBooks puts your transactions on the correct line of your Schedule C. This also organises your income and expenses so you know what areas of your self-employed business have the biggest impact. There are also SA103F deduction categories you can claim as allowable expenses for self-employment. That said, you can manually record the purchased van in the Transaction menu and categorise it as car, van, and travel expenses. To ensure your records are in shipshape, I suggest consulting an accountant to help you properly organize or determining the right category to use.

Here's how to manually add a transaction:

1. Go to the Transaction menu.
2.  Click Add Transaction.
3. Enter the amount and a description.
4. Choose the Select a category menu. Then, select the best category to organise your transaction.
5. Click Save.

To see additional details, you can click this article: Manually add transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed. 

Please refer to this article to view different information on how QBSE tracks your income throughout the year to be more ready when your taxes are due: QuickBooks Self-Employed Overview.

I want to make sure you have all the information you need, so please let me know if you have any other questions about categorising transactions in QBSE. I'm always here to assist further. Have a good one.

Thanks for coming back to me so quickly.

only other question though, is my car, can and travel expenses are showing as disallowed expenses? Not allowed?

I have previously been using my car and entering the business mileage manually, then also expense info receipts for fuel, hotel stays etc. But it is all showing under disallowable?

thanks

Hello again, @Ben1991.

I'm here to share additional information about recording Van purchases in QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE) and the expenses that you can claim as allowable and disallowable. 

There are car, van and travel expenses that you can claim allowable expenses. These are the following:

• vehicle insurance
• repairs and servicing
• fuel
• parking
• hire charges
• vehicle licence fees
• breakdown cover
• train, bus, air and taxi fares
• hotel rooms
• meals on overnight business trips

And the expenses that you cannot claim are non-business driving or travel costs, fines, and travel between home and work.

For more information about this, see this resource: Expenses if you're self-employed.

As for recording the taxes on the van purchase, I recommend contacting your accountant. They can provide proper guidance to ensure your books are on the right track.

Here's also an article that you can read to know the SA103F deduction categories you can claim as allowable expenses: About SA103F Categories.

If there's anything else you need help with concerning QBSE, please let me know. I'm always here to help. Keep safe.

Thank you, but why does quick books categorise my fuel, vehicle expenses and van purchase as disallowable expenses? When they should be allowable?

Hi there, @Ben1991.

I'll explain why some expenses are categorised as Disallowable expenses in QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE).

A Disallowable expense is a cost or expense that is not exclusively used for business purposes. Also, if an item for personal use appears on the same receipt as a business cost, it's part of the said expense.

It's possible that the expenses you've mentioned are not wholly used for business. That's the reason why it's showing under Disallowable expense.

However, if they're solely for business purposes, make sure that these transactions are categorised accurately. Concerning the categorisation of accounts, I suggest reaching out to your tax advisor.

I'm also adding this article that will help you learn the difference between Allowable and Disallowable Expenses: Allowable and Disallowable Expenses.

You can always reach out to me if you have any additional concerns. I'm always around to assist. Have a wonderful day!

Thanks I understand that however our van is solely for business uses, purchased solely for business use, as is the fuel etc that goes into it, hotel expenses for when we are working away etc all for business uses, but I can’t see any other way to categorise this in quick books self employed that would make it show under allowable?

thanks

Hi there, @Ben1991. Happy to chime in and share additional information about the simplified method of tracking your business car expenses.

Using the simplified method, you can't claim vehicle insurance, repairs, and servicing, or fuel costs, but you can claim all other travel expenses in addition to your simplified expense amount. On a manual entry, the Car Vehicle category will push into the disallowable section. If you need this to be allowable, you'd have to add and categorize them as Travel Expenses on the Transactions page. I'd still recommend asking for professional advice from your accountant before following this process.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Transactions menu.
2. Click Add Transaction.
3. Select Business if the transaction was for business, or select Personal for personal. If the transaction was both, select Split.
4. Select Travel Expense as a Category.
5. Click Save.

You can find more information about allowable expenses in these articles:

• Simplified Expenses mileage method
• About car, van, and travel expenses
• About SA103F Categories

Once done, run the Tax Summary report and review your allowable expenses under Travel expenses.

We're always here to answer if you have any follow-up questions. Take care always.   

So just to clarify I am not using the simplified accounting. Therefore I will need to re categorise as travel expenses in order that they show up as allowable? 
thanks