Wednesday, May 28, 2008

DIY Accounting Cabsmart Taxi Driver Accounts Software Questions And Answers

DIY Accounting Cabsmart Taxi Driver Accounts Software Questions And Answers
Do I have to enter mileage and vehicle running expenses in
my taxi accounts.

Entering the mileage covered by the taxi is optional as the
cabsmart package automatically chooses the most expensive
cost which produces the lowest tax liability for cab and
taxi drivers. The cabsmart taxi driver accounts package can
be used by either entering your vehicle running costs or
the vehicle business mileage.

Alternatively the cab driver can enter both taxi running
costs and the taxi mileage in which case the cab smart
formulae within the taxi accounts package automatically
selects the highest cost to produce the lowest tax bill.
Would the cabsmart taxi driver accounts or the self
employed accounts package be most suitable for a driving
instructor.

Either accounts package would suffice but on balance the
self employed accounting solution would be better as it has
greater sales analysis of income not required for cab and
taxi drivers. The purchase expense spreadsheet of cabsmart
is specific to taxi driver expenses while the self employed
package has increased analysis not required by taxi drivers
whose variety of expenses tends to be more limited to
vehicle running costs.

The cabsmart package is most suitable for taxi, cab,
private hire drivers, van and lorry drivers to produce the
accounts and complete the tax return.. The taxi fuel
expenses and mileage do not appear in the profit and loss
work book. The taxi expenses were not transferred from the
purchase spreadsheet to the monthly profit & loss account
in the financial accounts workbook.

The profit and loss account in the taxi financial accounts
file is updated automatically and so if this is not
happening the links are not working or there is a data
entry error. A data entry error is caused if on the
purchase expense spreadsheet you may have entered the taxi
expense item such as fuel expenses but have not entered the
code letter to analyse that expenditure using the list of
letters in the user guide.

The P&L account would also not be updated if you have
changed a file name.

The third potential reason is that when the cabsmart
financial accounts file was downloaded you opened it first
before saving and that has caused the link structure to
corrupt. The simple solution is to download the taxi driver
accounts templates again and save before opening and the
link structure is preserved. Taxi was sold and the sale
value entered in the assets schedule but now the profit and
loss account is showing a REF error message everywhere.

The REF message is an indication that a data entry error
has been made. It is likely that you may not have entered
the date the taxi was sold or you have not entered the
written down value of the vehicle. Check those items and
enter them and the REF message on the fixed assets schedule
will disappear and when that goes then the REF message
throughout the profit and loss account in the taxi
financial accounts will also disappear. I bought the
cabsmart taxi driver accounts package several months ago
but have lost it as my computer crashed. Do I need to pay
again.

No problem and no need to buy again. Return to the
confirmation link that was sent to you after purchase and
download the taxi driver accounts package again. If you no
longer have that email forward a copy of your paypal
receipt and the link to the cab smart download page will be
resent immediately. What capital allowances can I claim
from using my private vehicle for my taxi business.

Enter the vehicle description and cost in the fixed assets
schedule in the category for vehicles less than 12,000
pounds and the capital allowance will be calculated
automatically. As this is a private vehicle which is not
wholly used as a cab the percentage of private vehicle use
can be entered in the box provided and the capital
allowance on the taxi will be adjusted accordingly. Cars
used as cabs or private hire vehicles are not subject to
the first year allowance or the annual investment allowance
which was introduced. Writing down capital allowances can
be claimed for vehicles used as a taxi and were 25 percent
of the written down value prior to 5 April 2008 and 20
percent after that date.

It is also worth pointing out that hackney cabs are in fact
classed as a commercial vehicle and the first year
allowance or the new annual investment allowance is
claimable on those taxi vehicles. Commercial vehicles such
as hackney cabs are treated for tax purposes in the same
way as plant and equipment. How do I enter a new taxi
purchase in the taxi driver accounts.

Enter the total purchase price of the taxi in the expenses
spreadsheet showing the date of purchase, description and
total purchase cost. Use code letter F to analyse the
expenditure to fixed asset. Then visit the fixed assets
sheet and enter the date and description of the taxi plus
the total cost. The formulae within the cabsmart taxi
driver accounts package automatically calculates the
capital allowances which it also places in the boxes on the
tax return.


----------------------------------------------------
Terry Cartwright is a qualified accountant designing
Accounting Software at http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/
providing complete accounting solutions for small to medium
sized business in the UK with taxi driver accounts at
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/taxi.htm

No comments: