Contractors accounting: the year worked
- Profit before tax
- £49,000
- Gross income for the year
- £55,000
- CIS withheld by your contractors
- £11,000
- Cash received after CIS
- £44,000
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. The two statutory rates the worksheets name, the CIS deduction rate for your status and the UK standard rate of VAT, are read from GOV.UK on the date shown and entered by you; Subbielane publishes no other rate, no allowable-expense rule and no tax computation. The defaults are a worked example to replace with your own figures.
The figures above start from a worked example (£49,000). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Contractors accounting: the year worked worked example (CSV)
This is a contractors accounting worksheet that works the year a subbie hands to the accountant, from the figures a subbie actually knows. Day rate times days is gross income; gross at your CIS rate is what the contractors withheld before it reached you; gross less the withheld is the cash received; gross less expenses is profit before tax; profit at your own set-aside is the tax reserve; and the reserve less the CIS already withheld is what is still to put by. Every figure is yours, the set-aside most of all; the worksheet publishes no tax rate, no allowance and no computation. Free, on the page, no account; the paid plan keeps every invoice, statement and expense against the tax year so these totals build as the year does.
Gross income and the CIS already withheld
£250 a day for 220 days is £55,000 of gross income, and at a 20% deduction rate £11,000 of it was withheld by the contractors and paid to HMRC before it reached you, leaving £44,000 of cash. The withheld figure is the one to reconcile against the deduction statements; the paid plan keeps them matched.
Expenses and profit before tax
Gross less the year's allowable expenses is profit before tax: £55,000 less £6,000 is £49,000 on the worked example. What is allowable is HMRC's rule and your accountant's call; the worksheet takes your total and publishes no list.
The set-aside, and what is still to hold
Profit at your own set-aside is the reserve, £12,250 at 25%; less the £11,000 the contractors already withheld, £1,250 is still to put by. A negative figure here means more was withheld than the reserve you chose, which is a conversation with the accountant about the claim, not a problem with the arithmetic.
Contractors accounting: the year worked: common questions
Is this a free contractors accounting tool?
It is a free worksheet, not a set of accounts: enter your day rate, days, expenses, CIS rate and set-aside, and it works gross income, the CIS withheld, cash received, profit before tax, the reserve and what is still to hold on the page with no account and no card. Subbielane Pro keeps the invoices, statements and expenses the totals come from.
How much should a subbie set aside for tax?
Your own figure, agreed with your accountant: the worked example uses 25% to show the arithmetic and nothing more. It depends on your other income, your expenses and whether you trade as a sole trader or a company, none of which the worksheet knows or asserts.
Does the CIS withheld count towards my tax?
The deductions your contractors paid to HMRC are set against the tax you owe when the return is filed, which is why the worksheet shows the reserve less the amount already withheld. The claim itself is made on the return by you or your accountant; the worksheet works the figures and files nothing.