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 such an accounts package will be. Data entry basically consists of just 3 records, as an excel spreadsheet for taxi receipts; another for taxi expenses plus a further worksheet in which assets like a vehicle could be recorded.
Taxi receipts are entered on some 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 that 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 which includes a check up on data entry accuracy before being transferred to the taxi driver accounts sheet.
Cash and bank spreadsheets aren’t provided as not required by taxi drivers as taxi drivers need not produce a balance sheet.
Besides entering purchases on the taxi expense sheet the only real other entries required from the taxi driver to make a group of taxi driver accounts would be to also enter vehicle and any assets purchased on the fixed asset spreadsheet. The fixed asset spreadsheet having already 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 produce a monthly profit and loss account which includes the taxi capital allowances from the fixed asset schedule.
A distinctive 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 must be one or the other and only by the end of the financial year when it becomes clear that is probably the most tax efficient.
This taxi accounts package compares both mileage cost and the automobile running cost and automatically selects the most expensive. This ensures the highest costs are selected into the calculation of the web taxable profits and highest cost equals lowest tax bill.
Also in Eagle chauffeur accounts file is an excel spreadsheet designed with exactly 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 create the self assessment tax return.
Finally having calculated the web taxable profit for the entire year the accounting package also has a tax calculator that calculates the number of tax and national insurance to be paid.
The taxi driver accounts package has been tested often and the annual receipts and expenses for a complete year take approximately 2-3 3 hours to enter, and also have been completed in under 2 hours. The end product is a full group of taxi driver accounts like the self assessment tax return.
Both couriers and van drivers have similar businesses to taxi drivers in that they move items in one place to another similarly where taxi drivers move people from one location to some other. And because of the similarity running a business activity then this taxi accounting package would be equally suitable for couriers and van drivers.
