4 Expenses Most People Fail to Claim ⋆ MCT Accountants Limited (2024)

In a small business, you really need to hold on to every penny. Your average small business can go belly-up in a couple of months due to bad business, having an unequal income versus cost (you’re spending more than you’re earning) or racking up the bills on expenses. But did you know that these expenses can actually be claimed back?

1 Postage
Postage costs can be reclaimed, alongside other office stationary such as printing, some bills (i.e. internet & phone bills) and computer software that your company hasn’t used for more than 2 years.

2 Pension Contributions
Pension contributions can be claimed under allowable business expenses, alongside salaries, National Insurance contributions, subcontractor fees, company benefits and other staff expenses.

3. Subscriptions for Professional Membership
You can claim expenses for subscriptions to trade and professional journals as well as trade bodies and professional organisations that work in your field.

4. Sundries (Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Milk etc.)
Basic items that every office needs, such as toilet roll, coffee and tea, milk and sugar are covered under Sundries, alongside other stationaries.

A lot of these are probably costing you a lot of money, but they’re all expenses waiting to be claimed by a savvy business.

4 Expenses Most People Fail to Claim ⋆ MCT Accountants Limited (2024)

FAQs

What is failing to record expenses? ›

Unrecorded Expenses

Another type of accounting fraud takes place when a company does not record its expenses. The company's net income is overstated, and its costs are understated on the income statement. This type of accounting fraud creates a false impression of how much net income a company is receiving.

What is the No 1 problem for accountants? ›

Staffing woes top client concerns

Nearly 70 per cent of the Top 100 accounting outfits said that staffing – whether struggles to fill roles or cost pressures from having to drastically increase salaries to attract and retain workers – was the biggest issue currently facing their clients.

What are the 4 types of errors in accounting? ›

What are the 4 types of accounting errors? Most accounting errors can be classified as data entry errors, errors of commission, errors of omission and errors in principle.

What was the biggest accounting scandal? ›

The most notorious accounting fraud case is the Lehman Brothers scandal. The global financial services firm hid over $50 billion in loans disguised as sales.

What are bad expenses? ›

A bad debt expense is recognized when a receivable is no longer collectible because a customer is unable to fulfill their obligation to pay an outstanding debt due to bankruptcy or other financial problems.

Why are some expenses not deductible? ›

Non-deductible business expenses are those that are not directly related to your business. This includes things like meals and entertainment, car payments, and home office deductions. While these expenses may be necessary for your business, they cannot be written off on your taxes.

What is the basic accounting problem? ›

The basic accounting problem created by the monetary unit assumption is that it does not account for the outcome of inflation or increase in price and the corresponding decrease in purchasing power of people. The FASB expects unadjusted dollar amounts to be used for determining items listed in financial statements.

What are the accountants top 4? ›

The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world: Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC. They are the four largest global accounting networks as measured by revenue.

What are Big 4 accountants? ›

These Big 4 are the four largest public accounting firms in the world:
  • Deloitte.
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
  • Ernst & Young.
  • KPMG.

What are 4 sources of error that may occur? ›

Common sources of error include instrumental, environmental, procedural, and human. All of these errors can be either random or systematic depending on how they affect the results.

What are the most common errors in accounting? ›

10 common types of errors in accounting
  • Data entry error.
  • Omission error.
  • Duplication error.
  • Transposition error.
  • Compensation error.
  • Principle error.
  • Entry reversal error.
  • Closing error.
Jan 4, 2022

What are the 3 basic type of errors? ›

Types of Errors
  • (1) Systematic errors. With this type of error, the measured value is biased due to a specific cause. ...
  • (2) Random errors. This type of error is caused by random circ*mstances during the measurement process.
  • (3) Negligent errors.

What top accounting firm cheated? ›

Ernst & Young, one of the "big four" accounting firms, was fined $100 million by the SEC. Ernst & Young, one of the top accounting firms in the world, is being fined $100 million by federal regulators after admitting its employees cheated on their ethics exams.

What is unethical accounting? ›

An unethical accountant can easily manipulate financial data to commit serious financial crimes such as fraud and tax evasion. Personal Consequences. Unethical accounting can also lead to personal consequences. An accountant can lose their license, which can affect their career.

What CPA firm was fined for cheating? ›

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Tuesday fined EY US $100 million for cheating by its audit professionals on CPA exams and for withholding evidence of misconduct from the watchdog's investigators.

What are the 4 types of expenses? ›

If the money's going out, it's an expense. But here at Fiscal Fitness, we like to think of your expenses in four distinct ways: fixed, recurring, non-recurring, and whammies (the worst kind of expense, by far).

What are 4 examples of expenses? ›

Examples of expenses include rent, utilities, wages, salaries, maintenance, depreciation, insurance, and the cost of goods sold.

What are the big 5 expenses? ›

Compare BGFV With Other Stocks
Big 5 Sporting Goods Annual Operating Expenses (Millions of US $)
2021$1,026
2020$965
2019$982
2018$989
10 more rows

What are incurred but not recorded expenses? ›

Answer and Explanation: Accrued expenses are the expenses already incurred but payment of which were not yet made and not yet recorded in the books.

Which of the following should not be recorded as an expense? ›

Answer and Explanation: The correct option is a. Insurance on factory building. Reason: The insurance paid on factory building is considered as fixed cost because it is to be incurred even if the company does not operate.

What is recording expenses? ›

Recording these costs is simply a matter of locating each specific expense and recording it in the relevant account. In some cases you may simply be able to estimate the detailed costs of items rather than breaking each one out individually.

What does record your expenses mean? ›

Definitions of expense record. a written record of money spent. type of: record. a document that can serve as legal evidence of a transaction.

What are unpaid incurred expenses called? ›

An accrued expense—also called accrued liability—is an expense recognized as incurred but not yet paid. In most cases, an accrued expense is a debit to an expense account.

Which expense has been incurred but not paid should be credited to? ›

Accrued expenses are recognized by debiting the appropriate expense account and crediting an accrued liability account. A second journal entry must then be prepared in the following period to reverse the entry.

What are examples of incurred expense? ›

An example of an Incurred Expense would be a company receiving $5,000 in paper from another business. Until the other business is paid, the company has a $5,000 incurred expense. However, once that business is paid the $5,000, the paper becomes a paid expense.

Which expenses are not included in cost sheet? ›

The following items of expenses, losses or incomes are excluded from the cost sheet: Related to capital assets. appropriation of profits. amortization of fictitious or intangible assets.

What are the 5 examples of expenses? ›

Examples of expenses include rent, utilities, wages, salaries, maintenance, depreciation, insurance, and the cost of goods sold.

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