Since the majority of taxi drivers, but definitely not all, have little accounting or bookkeeping knowledge the low the amount of expertise required the more desirable this accounts package will be. Data entry basically consists of just 3 records, being an excel spreadsheet for taxi receipts; another for taxi expenses and also a further worksheet where assets for instance a vehicle could be recorded.
Taxi receipts are entered on a series of excel worksheets within the taxi income work book preset with every day of the financial year. Weekly and monthly totals are added and transferred through the linking system from the taxi bookkeeping sheets to the taxi financial accounts sheet.
Taxi expenses are listed on some twelve monthly spreadsheets which have preset columns with appropriate headings for taxi drivers to record office and rental costs, fuel bills, other vehicle costs and licence fees. The total of each expense is entered on each row and an individual letter used to then analyse the taxi expense to the column required. As with the taxi income sheet the columns are then automatically added with a check on data entry accuracy before being transferred to the taxi driver accounts sheet.
Cash and bank spreadsheets are not provided as not required by taxi drivers as taxi drivers need not create a balance sheet.
Besides entering purchases on the taxi expense sheet the only other entries required from the taxi driver to produce a group of taxi driver accounts would be to also enter vehicle and any other assets purchased on the fixed asset spreadsheet. The fixed asset spreadsheet having recently been preset with both depreciation rates and the capital allowances that taxi drivers can claim. The taxi accounts software is then complete.
The financial accounts file contains formulae to make a monthly profit and loss account that includes the taxi capital allowances from the fixed asset schedule.
A unique feature is that both mileages covered and vehicle running costs could be entered. The tax rules in the united kingdom state that drivers cannot claim both mileage allowances and vehicle running costs. It has to be one or the other and only at the end of the financial year when it becomes clear that is the most tax efficient.
This taxi accounts package compares both mileage cost and the automobile running cost and automatically selects probably the most expensive. Hove Eagles chauffeur ensures the best costs are selected into the calculation of the net taxable profits and highest cost equals lowest tax bill.
Also in the taxi accounts file is an excel spreadsheet made with the same layout, colour codes and box numbers as the inland revenue self assessment tax return. The taxi self assessment tax return is completed automatically by the cabsmart taxi accounts software. No entries are needed leaving the taxi driver and then click print to produce the self assessment tax return.
Finally having calculated the web taxable profit for the year the accounting package also offers a tax calculator that calculates the quantity of income tax and national insurance to be paid.
The taxi driver accounts package has been tested many times and the annual receipts and expenses for a full year take approximately 2-3 3 hours to enter, and have been completed in less than 2 hours. The end product is a full set of taxi driver accounts like the self assessment tax return.
Both couriers and van drivers have similar businesses to taxi drivers for the reason that they move items in one place to another similarly in which taxi drivers move people from one location to another. And because of the similarity in business activity then this taxi accounting package would be equally suitable for couriers and van drivers.