As a limited company director, claiming every legitimate business expense through your company is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce your Corporation Tax bill. Yet in practice, directors routinely either under-claim — leaving money on the table — or over-claim carelessly, creating the kind of HMRC scrutiny that a little more care would have avoided entirely.
The rules have not changed dramatically in 2026/27, but several specific areas — home office claims, electric vehicles, training costs, and the treatment of benefits in kind following the mandatory payrolling changes coming in April 2027 — deserve particular attention. The core test remains what it has always been: for a cost to be deductible against Corporation Tax, it must be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the company's trade.
At CoreAcc Accountants, we review expense claims as part of our year-end accounts work for every client. The errors we see most often are not aggressive — they are simply gaps, misunderstandings, and missed categories. This guide covers every major expense category relevant to owner-managed limited companies in 2026/27, with worked examples and answers to the questions we hear most frequently.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute professional tax advice. HMRC's application of the rules to individual circumstances varies — always seek specific advice where you are uncertain.
The Golden Rule: Wholly and Exclusively
Before working through individual expense categories, it is worth being precise about what the wholly and exclusively test actually means — because it is widely misunderstood in both directions.
The test in section 54 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009 is that a company may deduct expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of its trade. This means:
"Wholly" — the expense must be 100% for business purposes. If a cost is incurred partly for business and partly for personal reasons (a "duality of purpose"), it is normally disallowed in full, not apportioned.
"Exclusively" — there must be no non-business purpose. The subjective intention of the director at the time the expense is incurred matters. If you bought a laptop intending it for both personal and business use, that dual intent creates a duality of purpose even if you mainly use it for work.
The practical exception — apportionment. Where an expense is partly business and partly personal but the business and personal elements are genuinely separable, HMRC will accept a reasonable apportionment of the business element. This applies most commonly to:
- Mobile phone bills where the handset contract is in the company's name (the personal use element can be disregarded in practice — see below)
- Broadband bills where a portion relates to working from home
- Mileage where a vehicle is used for both business and private travel
The wholly and exclusively test applies to the company's expenses. A separate but related set of rules applies to expenses you pay personally and claim back from the company — these must meet both the company's deductibility test and the personal tax rules that determine whether your reimbursement is taxable as a benefit in kind.
1. Travel and Subsistence
Travel is one of the most significant expense categories for most owner-managed businesses, and also one of the most commonly misunderstood.
What qualifies as a business journey
A journey qualifies as a business travel expense if it is to a temporary workplace — a location where you attend for a limited duration or for a temporary purpose. HMRC defines a temporary workplace as one where you attend for less than 24 months and where it does not constitute a significant proportion (40% or more) of your total working time over a continuous period.
What is never allowable: ordinary commuting — travel between your home and a permanent place of work. If you have a fixed office and travel there every day, that journey is not a business expense, even if you do some work on the train or have to travel an unusually long distance. This applies equally whether the company reimburses you or you claim the cost directly.
Mileage rates for personal vehicles
Where you use your own car (not a company car) for business travel, the company can reimburse you at HMRC's Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rates:
Reimbursements at or below these rates are free of income tax and NI for you personally and are deductible by the company. Payments above the AMAP rates create a taxable benefit in kind. If the company pays less than the AMAP rate, you can claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the shortfall against your personal income tax.
Keep a mileage log — date, destination, purpose, and miles travelled — for every business journey. This is the evidence HMRC requires if it ever enquires into your travel claims.
Public transport and taxis
Train, bus, and taxi fares for qualifying business journeys are fully deductible. Retain receipts for all fares above a trivial amount. Where you travel by rail regularly, a season ticket is deductible only if the journey itself qualifies as business travel — a season ticket between your home and a permanent office is not.
Subsistence
Where you are away from your normal place of work on business, you can claim the reasonable cost of meals and overnight accommodation. HMRC does not prescribe a maximum for meals in most situations — the test is "reasonable" in the context of the business. A £15 sandwich and coffee is reasonable; a £200 dinner for one is harder to justify without a clear business context.
For overnight stays, HMRC allows an "incidental overnight expenses" payment of up to £5 per night for overnight stays within the UK and £10 per night abroad, free of tax and NI, to cover personal sundry costs (newspapers, phone calls home, and similar) during a business trip.
Worked Example 1: Annual Travel Claim for a Consulting Director
Alex is the sole director of a management consultancy. In 2026/27 he drives to client sites using his personal car (not a company car). He logs the following business mileage:
AMAP mileage reimbursement (all below 10,000-mile threshold):
2,960 miles × 45p = £1,332 — fully deductible by the company, no tax or NI for Alex.
Alex also incurs:
- Train fares (visits to clients without parking): £840
- Reasonable subsistence (lunches and one overnight): £620
Total deductible travel and subsistence: £2,792
At a 19% Corporation Tax rate, this saves the company £530 in Corporation Tax — for costs Alex was incurring anyway.
2. Home Office Expenses
The rules for working from home were significantly tightened in April 2026 for employees claiming relief directly from HMRC. However, the position for director-shareholders of limited companies is different — and more generous.
The flat-rate payment: £6 per week
Your company can pay you a flat rate of £6 per week (£312 per year) to cover additional household costs associated with working from home — heating, electricity, broadband usage, and similar. This payment requires no receipts, no calculation, and creates no taxable benefit in kind for you personally. It is simply processed through payroll or as an expense reimbursement.
For a director doing a modest amount of home working, this is the cleanest and simplest approach.
Actual costs: claiming more where justified
Where your home office costs are genuinely higher — because you work from home full-time, maintain a dedicated room as your sole or principal place of work, or have significant broadband and utilities bills — you can claim a proportion of your actual costs.
The calculation uses a time and space apportionment:
- Space: The proportion of the floor area of your home occupied by the dedicated work area
- Time: The proportion of time during which that space is used exclusively for work
For example: a home with 8 rooms, one of which is used exclusively as a study for 5 days out of 7, produces a potential deduction of (1/8) × (5/7) = approximately 9% of relevant household costs.
The costs that can be apportioned include: heating, electricity, water rates (if metered and usage is affected), council tax (a proportion), and rent or mortgage interest — though the last two require particular care, as claiming a proportion of mortgage interest may remove your main residence CGT exemption on that portion of the property when you eventually sell.
The director's use of home agreement: Where the company is making a formal payment for the use of a room in your home as office space, it is good practice (and HMRC-defensible) to have a written agreement in place between you personally and the company, setting out the room used, the basis of the payment calculation, and the amount per month or quarter. This is not a legal requirement, but it provides a clear paper trail and reinforces that the payment is for genuine business use rather than an informal transfer of funds.
Worked Example 2: Home Office — Flat Rate vs. Actual Costs
Rachel is a sole director of a digital marketing agency. She works from home full-time. Her home has 6 rooms, one of which is used exclusively as her office. Her annual household costs are:
Flat rate option: £6 × 52 = £312 — simple, no receipts, no calculation.
Actual cost option:Space proportion: 1 room out of 6 = 16.7%Time proportion: full-time = 100% (5 of 5 working days)Apportioned costs (excluding rent and council tax, where extra care is needed):
- Gas and electricity: £2,400 × 16.7% = £401
- Broadband: full cost deductible as used entirely for work = £720
Deductible actual costs: £1,121 — versus £312 under the flat rate.
For Rachel, the actual cost method produces an additional £809 deduction — saving approximately £154 in Corporation Tax at the 19% rate. Over five years, that is £770. Worth the calculation if her circumstances are stable.
3. Electric Vehicles and the Company Car Benefit in Kind
The company car benefit in kind (BIK) is one of the most misunderstood areas of director expenses, and also one of the biggest planning opportunities of 2026/27 — particularly for electric vehicles.
Why a company electric vehicle is so attractive
When a company purchases or leases a vehicle and makes it available to a director for private use, a taxable benefit in kind arises. The value of that benefit is calculated as:
BIK value = List price of the vehicle × % rate for the relevant emissions band
For zero-emission electric vehicles, the BIK percentage for 2026/27 is just 3%. For comparison, a petrol car with emissions of 120g/km attracts a BIK rate of 30%.
A Tesla Model 3 with a list price of £42,990:
The director pays income tax of just £516 per year for full private use of a £43,000 electric car. The company can deduct the full lease or purchase cost, and VAT on the leasing cost is 50% recoverable even with private use.
The salary sacrifice angle
Where the company operates a salary sacrifice arrangement for an EV, an employee (including a director) gives up gross salary in exchange for the car. The salary reduction saves both income tax and NI for the director and employer NI for the company. With a 3% BIK rate, the overall tax cost is minimal and the effective reduction in car cost can be substantial. We covered this in detail in our dedicated EV salary sacrifice article.
What about fuel?
Company-provided fuel for private journeys creates a separate fuel benefit charge — calculated as £27,800 × the BIK percentage. For a petrol car at 30%, that is £8,340 of additional taxable benefit, attracting £3,336 of income tax for a higher-rate taxpayer. For electric vehicles, there is no fuel benefit charge (because electricity is not "fuel" for these purposes) — charging costs at home or at public charge points reimbursed by the company are tax-free.
4. Equipment, Technology and Office Costs
Computers, laptops and tablets
Computing equipment purchased by the company for business use is a capital expenditure deductible under the Annual Investment Allowance, giving 100% relief in the year of purchase. The company can also claim the equipment as a business expense if purchased on subscription (e.g. a leased laptop) or written down under the capital allowances rules.
If the equipment has significant private use, a proportionate benefit in kind may arise. In practice, HMRC does not typically challenge the use of company computers where there is a clear business purpose — but a laptop shared between the director and family members for personal use is more exposed than a dedicated work machine.
Mobile phones
A mobile phone in the company's name (with the contract between the network provider and the company) is fully deductible as a company expense, with no taxable benefit in kind for the director — even if there is some personal use. This is a specific statutory exemption. Only one mobile phone per employee per employer qualifies for this treatment.
A phone contract in your personal name, with the company reimbursing the cost, is treated differently: HMRC may treat the reimbursement as a taxable payment unless a business use proportion is agreed.
Subscriptions and software
- Software subscriptions (accounting packages, CRM tools, project management platforms, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, security software) — fully deductible as business expenses
- Professional body memberships relevant to your trade — fully deductible
- Trade journals and specialist publications — fully deductible
- Newspaper subscriptions — generally not deductible unless a specific business case can be demonstrated (e.g. a financial services firm whose staff need daily market data)
Office consumables and stationery
Printer cartridges, paper, postage, and similar consumables are straightforward deductible expenses. Retain receipts or use your company credit or debit card so purchases appear on the business bank statement.
5. Training and Professional Development
What qualifies
Training expenditure is deductible where it relates to skills or knowledge used in the existing business. HMRC's test for employee training costs is that the expenditure must be incurred in connection with the company's trade and relate to the duties of the employee.
The following are clearly allowable:
- Courses, conferences, and seminars directly relevant to your profession or industry
- Technical qualifications required for regulated activities
- Leadership and management development for directors
- Health and safety training mandatory for your industry
- CPD required by a professional body you belong to
What does not qualify
Training to move into a new and unrelated trade is not deductible — because the cost is incurred for the new business, not the current one. A company director taking a course in plumbing to start a second career is not incurring a cost wholly and exclusively for the trade of their existing company.
The boundary is not always obvious. A digital marketing consultant learning advanced Python programming to enhance their analytics capability is on the allowable side. The same consultant taking a full coding bootcamp to pivot into software development is more questionable. Where the training has dual purpose, take advice before claiming.
Professional subscriptions
Annual membership fees for professional bodies relevant to your role — the ICAEW, Law Society, CIM, CIPD, RIBA, ICE, and hundreds of others — are fully deductible. The HMRC approved list of professional subscriptions is updated annually and is worth checking if you belong to a less common body.
Worked Example 3: Annual Training and Development Claim
Simon runs a specialist recruitment agency. In 2026/27 he incurs the following development costs, all directly relevant to his existing business:
At 25% Corporation Tax rate, the £4,050 of clearly allowable training costs saves Simon £1,013 in Corporation Tax. The MBA requires a specific assessment of whether the business element can be separated from the personal career development element.
6. Staff Entertaining and the Annual Event Exemption
The £150 annual event exemption
HMRC provides a specific exemption for the cost of annual staff events — typically a Christmas party or summer gathering. The limit is £150 per head per event (including VAT). This can include the cost of partners or spouses attending, provided the event is open to all employees and the per-head cost (including partners) stays within the limit.
The £150 is not a personal allowance — it is a per-head cost limit across the total expenditure on the event. If you spend £152 per head, the entire amount becomes a taxable benefit in kind, not just the £2 excess. This is a cliff-edge, not a taper.
Multiple events in a year can qualify, provided the combined cost does not exceed £150 per head. If you hold a Christmas party at £90 per head and a summer lunch at £70 per head, the combined £160 exceeds the limit — you can designate one event as the qualifying event and treat the other as a taxable benefit, or combine them and accept the BIK on the lower-cost event.
Where the event is only for directors (with no other employees), the exemption still applies as long as the event is genuinely open to all staff — it just happens that all staff are directors.
Client entertaining — the most common mistake
Entertaining clients, customers, or suppliers is not deductible for Corporation Tax, regardless of the business purpose. This is the most frequently misunderstood expense rule for directors, and it is an absolute rule with no exceptions. Client entertaining is specifically excluded from deductibility under section 1298 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009.
The practical implication: if you take a client to dinner at a cost of £200, you cannot deduct the cost from your company's taxable profit. You will pay Corporation Tax on it. If you process it through your expense claim without declaring it correctly, it may also create a personal tax issue for you as a benefit in kind.
Worked Example 4: The Staff Christmas Party Cliff Edge
MediaFlow Ltd has 10 employees (including the director). It books a Christmas dinner at a cost of £1,480 in total including VAT.
If the director upgrades to a better venue and total cost rises to £1,540:
A £60 overspend on the venue results in employer NI of £231 and a taxable benefit for every employee. The £150 limit must be managed actively before committing to event costs.
7. Directors' Loan Accounts: Expenses That Are Not Expenses
The director's loan account (DLA) is a running balance between you personally and your company. When you pay for something personally and the company reimburses you, the money flows through the DLA. When the company pays for something personal on your behalf, that is also a DLA transaction.
A DLA that is overdrawn — where the company has effectively lent money to you — creates two tax risks:
Section 455 Corporation Tax charge: If the DLA is overdrawn at the company's year end and has not been repaid within nine months and one day, the company pays a Corporation Tax surcharge of 33.75% of the outstanding balance. This is refunded when the loan is eventually repaid, but the cash flow impact is significant.
Benefit in kind: If the overdrawn DLA balance exceeds £10,000 at any point during the year, the director is treated as receiving a taxable benefit equal to the HMRC official rate of interest (currently 2.25% for 2026/27) on the outstanding balance. If the company charges you interest at or above this rate, no benefit arises.
The most common way a DLA becomes overdrawn inadvertently is by processing personal expenses through the company — restaurant bills that are not staff entertaining, holiday costs, children's activities, or personal shopping that is incorrectly described as a business cost. These do not become allowable by being put through the company; they create an overdrawn DLA and the tax consequences that follow.
8. Other Allowable Expenses Directors Regularly Miss
Eye tests and corrective eyewear
Where a director or employee is required to use a computer screen as part of their role, the company can pay for an eye test and, if required, corrective spectacles specifically for computer use. The spectacles must be prescribed specifically for VDU use — general-purpose glasses or contacts are not covered. This is a small but genuine allowable expense many directors do not claim.
Bank charges and interest
Bank charges on your business account, merchant processing fees (card payment charges), and interest on business loans or overdrafts are all deductible. Personal bank charges, even if incurred on a transaction with a business purpose, are not deductible by the company.
Advertising and marketing
All costs of promoting your business — website hosting and development, digital advertising (Google, Meta, LinkedIn), print materials, SEO services, PR agency fees, photography for business use — are fully deductible. Sponsorship of a local sports team has a promotional purpose and is generally allowable, provided it is reasonable in the context of the business.
Legal and professional fees
Accountancy fees (preparing your company's accounts, tax returns, and payroll) are themselves deductible — a pleasing circularity. Legal fees incurred for business purposes — employment contracts, commercial agreements, debt recovery, lease negotiations — are deductible. Legal fees for capital transactions (buying or selling the business or a major asset) are treated as capital expenditure rather than a revenue deduction.
Insurances
Business insurance — employers' liability, public liability, professional indemnity, office contents, business interruption, and directors and officers liability — is fully deductible. Key person insurance, where the company insures against the loss of a key director, is deductible provided the policy pays out to the company (not to the individual) and the company has a commercial reason for the policy. Relevant life policies are a more specialist area and require separate advice.
Gifts to clients
Small gifts to clients are deductible subject to strict limits: the gift must not be food, drink, tobacco, or a voucher exchangeable for those items; it must carry a conspicuous advertisement for the business; and the total cost to the same recipient must not exceed £50 per year. Branded merchandise (a pen, a notebook, a USB drive) within this limit qualifies. A bottle of wine to a client at Christmas does not.
Charitable donations
Cash donations by a company to charity are deductible as a Gift Aid donation for Corporation Tax purposes. Unlike personal donations, company donations are deducted from trading profit directly — there is no basic rate extension. Donations of trading stock to charity are also deductible at cost.
9. Benefits in Kind, P11D, and the Payrolling Transition
The way benefits in kind are reported and taxed is changing from April 2027. From that date, payrolling of benefits becomes mandatory for most employers — the taxable value of each benefit will be added to your employees' (and your own) payslips each month, and income tax collected in real time through PAYE, rather than being declared on an annual P11D form.
April 2026 was the last year in which voluntary payrolling of benefits was available as an opt-in. If you did not register for payrolling before 6 April 2026, your benefits for 2025/26 must be declared on P11D forms (due to HMRC by 6 July 2026, with Class 1A NI due by 19 July 2026).
If you currently have benefits in kind that you have not been declaring — whether because you overlooked them or because you were unsure they needed reporting — the time to regularise the position is now, before the mandatory payrolling system makes every benefit visible in your real-time payroll data.
Common benefits that directors fail to declare include:
- Private medical insurance paid by the company
- Company cars (or cash allowances in lieu of a car)
- Gym membership paid by the company
- Season tickets for commuting paid by the company
- Trivial benefits that cumulatively exceed the £50 limit
The trivial benefits exemption allows the company to provide employees with small non-cash benefits (a gift card, a bouquet, a meal out for a birthday) worth no more than £50 per benefit without reporting them. Directors of close companies face a cap of £300 per year across all trivial benefits — a limit that does not apply to other employees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "wholly and exclusively" mean and why does it matter?
"Wholly and exclusively" is the legal test from section 54 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009 that determines whether a company expense is deductible for Corporation Tax purposes. An expense is allowable only if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the company's trade. If an expense has a dual purpose — business and personal — it is generally disallowed in full, not just in part. The exception is where the business and personal elements are genuinely separable and can be apportioned. Understanding this test is the foundation of all business expense planning: the question to ask before putting anything through the company is "what is the sole purpose of this expenditure?"
Can I claim my phone through my company?
Yes, but only if the phone contract is in the company's name — meaning the contractual relationship is between the company and the network provider. In this case, the entire phone bill is a deductible company expense and there is no taxable benefit in kind for you personally, even if you use the phone privately. Only one such phone per employee qualifies for this treatment. If the contract is in your personal name and the company reimburses you, different rules apply and a taxable benefit may arise on the private use proportion.
Is client entertaining tax-deductible?
No. Client entertaining — taking a client, customer, or supplier out for meals, drinks, events, or hospitality — is specifically not deductible for Corporation Tax under section 1298 CTA 2009. This is an absolute rule with no exceptions for business purpose or scale. Staff entertaining — taking your own employees out — is deductible (subject to the benefit in kind rules). The distinction between staff and client entertaining is important: a lunch where only your employees attend is deductible; a lunch where a client is present is not, at least not in respect of the client's costs.
What is the £150 annual staff party exemption and how does it work?
HMRC provides a specific exemption for annual staff events such as a Christmas party or summer gathering. The limit is £150 per head per year, including VAT. The per-head cost is calculated by dividing the total event cost (including travel to the venue, accommodation, and entertainment) by the total number of attendees, including partners and spouses. If the cost per head comes in at or below £150, the entire cost is deductible and there is no taxable benefit in kind for any attendee. If the cost per head exceeds £150 by even £1, the entire event becomes a taxable benefit in kind for all attendees. Multiple events can qualify in the same year as long as the combined per-head cost across all qualifying events does not exceed £150.
Can I claim working from home expenses through my company?
Yes. As a director of a limited company, your company can pay you up to £6 per week (£312 per year) as a flat-rate reimbursement for the additional cost of working from home, with no receipts required and no taxable benefit in kind. If your actual additional costs are higher, you can claim a reasonable apportionment of actual household costs instead, supported by a calculation and ideally a written director's use of home agreement between you and the company. For full-time home workers with a dedicated office room, the actual cost method typically produces a larger deduction than the flat rate.
Is the cost of my home broadband deductible?
It depends on how you pay for it. If the broadband contract is in the company's name and the connection is used exclusively for business, the full cost is deductible. If the contract is in your personal name, the business proportion is reimbursable as part of your home office claim — typically the business use proportion of the bill. A purely domestic broadband connection used for occasional work is not fully deductible; a dedicated business line is.
What training costs can I claim through my company?
Training costs are deductible where they relate to skills or knowledge used in the existing business. This includes professional development courses, industry conferences and seminars, CPD required by your professional body, and technical qualifications needed for your current role. Training to move into a new and unrelated business is not deductible by the existing company. Where a course has elements of both current and future business relevance, advice should be sought before claiming the full cost, as HMRC may challenge a dual-purpose training claim.
Can I put my accountancy fees through my company?
Yes. Accountancy fees — for preparing your company's annual accounts, corporation tax return, and payroll — are fully deductible business expenses for the company. They are incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade and HMRC does not challenge them. The VAT on accountancy fees is also recoverable if your company is VAT registered (subject to the usual VAT input tax rules). Fees for personal tax advice and personal self-assessment preparation, however, are not deductible by the company — they relate to your personal affairs, not the company's trade.
What happens if my director's loan account is overdrawn?
If your director's loan account (DLA) is overdrawn at the company's year end — meaning the company has effectively lent you money — and the balance is not repaid within nine months and one day of the year end, the company must pay a Corporation Tax surcharge of 33.75% of the outstanding balance under section 455 CTA 2010. This is not a permanent cost — it is refunded when the loan is repaid — but the cash flow impact is significant. Additionally, if the overdrawn balance exceeds £10,000 at any point during the year, you are treated as receiving a taxable benefit in kind based on HMRC's official interest rate (currently 2.25% for 2026/27). Keeping your DLA in credit — or repaying any overdrawn balance before the year end — avoids both charges.
What is the difference between a revenue expense and a capital expense?
Revenue expenses are day-to-day running costs of the business — wages, rent, professional fees, consumables, subscriptions. They are deducted from taxable profit in the year they are incurred. Capital expenses are costs of acquiring or improving long-term assets — vehicles, machinery, office furniture, computers, leasehold improvements. Capital costs are not deducted immediately in most cases; instead, they attract capital allowances, with the most generous being the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), which gives 100% first-year relief on qualifying plant and machinery expenditure up to £1 million per year. Understanding the distinction matters because processing a capital item as a revenue expense (or vice versa) can result in an incorrect tax return.
Do I need to keep receipts for all my business expenses?
Yes — receipts or other documentary evidence are the standard form of proof for business expenditure. HMRC expects records to be retained for at least six years from the end of the relevant Corporation Tax accounting period. In practice, digital copies of receipts are acceptable and increasingly preferred: HMRC's "Making Tax Digital" journey means that digital record-keeping is expected as standard. Apps that scan and store receipts — integrated with accounting software such as Xero or QuickBooks — make this painless. The flat-rate home office payment of £6 per week is the main exception: it is specifically designed to avoid the need for receipts.
What is a benefit in kind and do I need to declare it?
A benefit in kind (BIK) is a non-cash benefit provided by the company to a director or employee. Examples include company cars, private medical insurance, gym membership, and interest-free loans above £10,000. BIKs are taxable in the hands of the recipient and must be declared — currently on a P11D form submitted to HMRC by 6 July following the tax year, with Class 1A NI due by 19 July. From April 2027, payrolling of BIKs becomes mandatory and the P11D form for individual employees is replaced by real-time reporting through payroll. Failing to declare benefits in kind is one of the most common causes of HMRC compliance checks for owner-managed businesses.
What CoreAcc Accountants Can Help You With
Expense management sounds like an administrative task. In practice, for a profitable owner-managed business, it is a tax planning activity — one that can save thousands of pounds per year when done thoroughly, and create unnecessary HMRC attention when done carelessly.
At CoreAcc Accountants, we help directors get this right as part of our year-end accounts and tax return service. Specifically:
- Year-end expense review: As part of preparing your annual accounts, we review your expense categories and identify anything that has been missed, misclassified, or would benefit from reclassification
- Home office agreements: We can draft a director's use of home agreement and calculate the appropriate reimbursement rate based on your actual home office costs
- Benefit in kind reviews: We identify any benefits that have been provided without being declared, help you regularise the position, and ensure your P11D obligations are met correctly for 2025/26 (due July 2026)
- Payrolling transition: We help you prepare for mandatory payrolling of benefits from April 2027, including software configuration and HMRC registration
- Director's loan account monitoring: We flag DLA issues before they become section 455 problems, with practical advice on the most efficient way to clear an overdrawn balance
- Mileage and travel record-keeping: We can set up simple digital systems for logging and evidencing business mileage and travel costs that are HMRC-audit ready
Get in Touch
Whether you want a full expense audit, help with a specific category, or simply want to ensure your year-end accounts reflect everything your company is entitled to claim, CoreAcc Accountants is here to help.
CoreAcc Accountants is an ACCA-accredited firm of Chartered Certified Accountants based in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. This article was last reviewed in April 2026 and reflects legislation and HMRC guidance in force for the 2026/27 tax year. It does not constitute professional tax advice. Always seek specific advice for your individual circumstances.
