Pay as you go O2 topups as an expense

[Lifter]

I used to have a contract phone which was invoiced from o2 which was used almost exclusively for my business. I actually used it to tether the internet connection to use my laptop whilst out and about and to check up site stats, email customers etc.

Now I've come off contract i realised its far cheaper for me to simply get a pay as you go phone with a built in 500meg web access and a bolt on for another 500 meg.

Trouble is, o2 doesn't provide invoices for pay as you go phones, is there a way around it?

Can i simply declare the £10-£20 a month as petty cash (paid using business bank account), or perhaps buy top up cards from the supermarket and get a receipt there [i dont actually know if they still sell these topups in the supermarket].

[Ray Stewart]

This is a common problem. The easiest way to keep track of the topups is to register a debit/credit card with the network and use that for topups. At least the actual payments will then be seen on the statements.

Failing that, if you need to use cash, our local garage gives a little slip to people who ask for a receipt for a topup done with a swipe card so maybe you can find somewhere nearby.

If all else fails just keep a manual track of the cash. As long as it is reasonable you should have no issues. I have not seen HMRC look too closely at phone expenses unless they are abnormally high - but then you would have changed back to contract for cheapness!

Merry Xmas

[Lifter]

I made the first payment using the bank account I have assigned for business use only. Although this should be great, I really prefer to keep as close record with actual invoices as much as possible no matter how big or large the transaction.

I can pay using my debit card in supermarkets, and scan the receipt into my account system (I keep all my accounts electronic).

A receipt from a retailer should be good enough then?

[Ray Stewart]

That is fine

[Lifter]

ok thanks a lot