Small business expenses can be costly and time consuming to administer if they are not managed correctly. To make things easier there are a few strategies you can employ within your business, including getting a business fuel card. We take a look at these approaches and how they can help small businesses save time and money. This article will cover the main expenses employees are entitled to claim back off their employer.
Expense Records
When asking your employees to file their expenses we recommend providing them with an expense form which will allow you to capture all of the required information. Keeping correct expense records is essential as the HMRC can request this information at the end of the tax year. The HMRC require the following expense information to be kept for 3 years on any expenses or benefits provided to your employees:
- Expense Date
- Expense Details
- Receipts or Evidence (where possible)
Categorising Expenses
Expenses are more easily managed when they are categorised correctly, by grouping expenses you can then easily identify areas where you take steps to reduce unneeded spend. There are several different categories expenses can fall under, including:
- Sustenance
- Travel
- Entertainment
- Stationary
- Accommodation
- Parking
- Uniforms
Setting Employee Deadlines
It is important to set deadlines for expense claims so you can manage business cash flow. If employees are allowed to claim expenses for things that happened months ago these could mount up and impact on business cash flow. Expenses that date back more than a few weeks can also be inaccurate as details and receipts can be lost. We recommend having an expenses policy which is reasonable but encourages employees to file expenses promptly. It is also good practice to pay back employee’s expenses as soon as possible as this will encourage employees to claim them back in accordance with the policy.
Utilising Fuel Cards
Travel expenses can be one of the more difficult expenses to calculate, there is not only mileage to consider but wear and tear allowances on employee vehicles. Mileage allowance can also differ depending on the route taken and the vehicle driven. A fuel card removes the need to calculate mileage expenses and pay employees back for business mileage.
Fuel cards are a great way to keep expense admin to a minimum and make it fair to all employees no matter what vehicle they drive. A fuelGenie fuel card also has the added benefit of fuel saving, by directing drivers to low-cost supermarket fuel you can consistently save over 3p* per litre. In addition to this fuelGenie generates HMRC-approved invoicing for easy VAT reclaim and record keeping.
A fuelGenie fuel card makes employee mileage expenses easy, we’re on the side of businesses with a great range of benefits:
- Savings of over 3p/litre by consistently directing drivers to low-cost supermarket fuelling stations*
- No fees to pay
- 24/7 online dashboard for easy admin and management
- HMRC-approved invoices for easy VAT reclaim
- Competitive credit facility with no minimum spend
- Unlimited number of free fuel cards
- It allows drivers to gain reward points on supermarket loyalty cards
So, if you’re looking to make small business expenses easier and save time and money follow our recommendations and apply for a fuel card.
