Recording Payments/Expenses for meals

**LindyLou59** · 04-02-2011, 11:50 PM

Hi, I've been childminding for just over a year am loving it and it's all going well

but... I've now got a new child who I'm going to be providing an evening meal for - I've done all the health and safety training and registered with the council etc, etc but my question is -

The parent is going to pay me a fixed amount per meal but I am going to be feeding my own two children at the same time so do I have to add up all the ingredients I use for each meal and divide it by three or can I just average it out over a month. I know I have to keep all my receipts but is there an easy way to do this, it just seems like adding each meal up is going to be a nightmare!

Am I overthinking this - all help and advice gratefully received!!

**Zoomie** · 05-02-2011, 12:10 AM

Do a total price for the meal (add all the ingredients), and then divide it by the number of portions you get out of it.

Best to do it over a number of typical meals, so that you get an average, and use that figure as your base.

Review it in a couple of months, as prices keep rising.

HTHs

**Cazz** · 05-02-2011, 12:32 AM

Are you talking about putting the cost of food through your accounts?

I'm under the impression that if you charge extra for a meal you can't put the food expenses through your books as well - it's one or the other. I could be wrong though!

I charge a set amount for a meal and just include that figure within the weekly rate for my accounts. Because I do this I don't put anything through for the cost of the food.

Maybe I've got it wrong though!

**christine e** · 05-02-2011, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by Cazz

Are you talking about putting the cost of food through your accounts?

I'm under the impression that if you charge extra for a meal you can't put the food expenses through your books as well - it's one or the other. I could be wrong though!

I charge a set amount for a meal and just include that figure within the weekly rate for my accounts. Because I do this I don't put anything through for the cost of the food.

Maybe I've got it wrong though!

The amount charged to parents for food goes through your books under income so the cost of the food comes under expenditure.

Cx

**Chatterbox Childcare** · 05-02-2011, 07:35 AM

I do this with my business head on - don't think about having your own children as some day you may not. How much does it cost to feed a child if you started from scratch just for one? I charge £2.50 per meal.

You put all income and all expenses through

**Cazz** · 05-02-2011, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by christine e

The amount charged to parents for food goes through your books under income so the cost of the food comes under expenditure.

Cx

Oh ****!!

I was obviously misinformed and have been doing it wrong for the past 14 months!

Something else to get my head around!

**Cazz** · 05-02-2011, 03:58 PM

Originally Posted by DebbieS26

I do this with my business head on - don't think about having your own children as some day you may not. How much does it cost to feed a child if you started from scratch just for one? I charge £2.50 per meal.

You put all income and all expenses through

So do you mean that when my Asda delivery arrives - I just mark anything that mindees will be having some of (and also my own family) and put the full amount through?

You don't need to break it down into portions for mindees?

**Cazz** · 05-02-2011, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by christine e

The amount charged to parents for food goes through your books under income so the cost of the food comes under expenditure.

Cx

But then you're getting money twice for the same thing - or am I being really dipsy here?!

**Minstrel** · 05-02-2011, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by Cazz

But then you're getting money twice for the same thing - or am I being really dipsy here?!

No- one is an income and the other is an expense so in theory they should cancel each other out!

**Cazz** · 05-02-2011, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by Minstrel

No- one is an income and the other is an expense so in theory they should cancel each other out!

So you can put the full cost of an item of food even though some of it will be eaten by your own family?

**Minstrel** · 05-02-2011, 07:07 PM

I put through a resonable guess for each meal rather than dividing my shopping bill up. ie £2 per dinner.

**Cazz** · 05-02-2011, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by Minstrel

I put through a resonable guess for each meal rather than dividing my shopping bill up. ie £2 per dinner.

Ah right - so you don't add up all the items that you buy from the supermarket and put that through, for example if you have 3 mindees for a meal you put £6.00 through your accounts - is that right?

If that's the case, I charge 75p for breakfast, £1.50 for cold meal and £2.00 for cooked meal - would it be acceptable to put those amounts through the books or did I ought to make it a bit less for expenses?

**Zoomie** · 05-02-2011, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by Cazz

So you can put the full cost of an item of food even though some of it will be eaten by your own family?

No, if you buy six sausages and mindee eats 1, than you divide packet of sausages by 6, then add on whatever a portion mashed potatoes would cost (or divide the packet of spuds + milk + marg into how many get to eat from it), and say cost of 1/2 carrot each.

then you come up with a cost for the meal for 1 mindee.

do this for about 3 or 4 different typical meals and you have your average cost per meal that can be put through as an expense.

Personally, I cheat, and find out what a kids portion of (eg) spaghetti bolognaise costs in the ready meal section of supermarket and use that as my 'calculation'.

**Minstrel** · 05-02-2011, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by Cazz

Ah right - so you don't add up all the items that you buy from the supermarket and put that through, for example if you have 3 mindees for a meal you put £6.00 through your accounts - is that right?

If that's the case, I charge 75p for breakfast, £1.50 for cold meal and £2.00 for cooked meal - would it be acceptable to put those amounts through the books or did I ought to make it a bit less for expenses?

This is exactly how i do it. I did check my reciepts often in the beginning and I'm happy that it's a good medium. Some days it's less and others it's more.

**Chatterbox Childcare** · 05-02-2011, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by Cazz

Ah right - so you don't add up all the items that you buy from the supermarket and put that through, for example if you have 3 mindees for a meal you put £6.00 through your accounts - is that right?

If that's the case, I charge 75p for breakfast, £1.50 for cold meal and £2.00 for cooked meal - would it be acceptable to put those amounts through the books or did I ought to make it a bit less for expenses?

We all do it differently as you can see from the replies.

I charge the parent £2.50 per lunch/dinner/tea and .50p for breakfast and this goes into income.

When I get my receipt from the shops I take off the family items such as magazines, clothes, wine etc and the balance I divide by the number of family and mindees that are eating that week which gives me a price per head. Then I take the price and multiply it by the number of mindees eating as they all have access to all the food. Sometimes I buy thinks especially for the mindees and it goes in the bin but some of that cost is incorporated into the family per head cost too. This method was shown to me by an HMRC business advisor who came out to my house some time back. This cost goes in your expenses.

This way I don't spend a lot of time calculating what they have and haven't eaten - with 15 children it just isn't practical.

**Cazz** · 06-02-2011, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by DebbieS26

We all do it differently as you can see from the replies.

I charge the parent £2.50 per lunch/dinner/tea and .50p for breakfast and this goes into income.

When I get my receipt from the shops I take off the family items such as magazines, clothes, wine etc and the balance I divide by the number of family and mindees that are eating that week which gives me a price per head. Then I take the price and multiply it by the number of mindees eating as they all have access to all the food. Sometimes I buy thinks especially for the mindees and it goes in the bin but some of that cost is incorporated into the family per head cost too. This method was shown to me by an HMRC business advisor who came out to my house some time back. This cost goes in your expenses.

This way I don't spend a lot of time calculating what they have and haven't eaten - with 15 children it just isn't practical.

Thank you Debbie - I think I could just about manage to do it that way!

What I didn't want to do was the working out each meal how much of the spaghetti the mindees had and adding on the mince, then the tomatoes etc - haven't got the time for that!

I'm going to be feeding 6 mindees a week so your way will be manageable I think! I'm just kicking myself that for the last 14 months I haven't put any food through my accounts

Sorry to the op that I seem to have taken over this thread but I needed to get my head around the whole thing!

**flowerpots** · 06-02-2011, 08:01 AM

i charge parents £2.00 per meal (lunch/dinner) and put it through my books as income and then put £2.00 per meal down as expenditure. is this right? slightly confused after reading replies

(it doesnt take much lol)

**Chatterbox Childcare** · 06-02-2011, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Cazz

Thank you Debbie - I think I could just about manage to do it that way!

What I didn't want to do was the working out each meal how much of the spaghetti the mindees had and adding on the mince, then the tomatoes etc - haven't got the time for that!

I'm going to be feeding 6 mindees a week so your way will be manageable I think! I'm just kicking myself that for the last 14 months I haven't put any food through my accounts

Sorry to the op that I seem to have taken over this thread but I needed to get my head around the whole thing!

work it out roughly and add it to te final account month.
Even at £1 per meal would be 6 x £1, x 5 days = £30 x 52 weeks = £1560 a year

**MrAnchovy** · 06-02-2011, 05:08 PM

You can amend your tax return for 2009/10 simply by resubmitting it online at any time up to 31 Jan 2012. For earlier years (you can currently go back to 2006/7) you can write to HMRC making a claim for 'overpayment relief' and explain your mistake and the amount you want to claim.

Full details on the HMRC web site.

**MrAnchovy** · 06-02-2011, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by flowerpots

i charge parents £2.00 per meal (lunch/dinner) and put it through my books as income and then put £2.00 per meal down as expenditure. is this right? slightly confused after reading replies

(it doesnt take much lol)

As long as £2 per meal is a reasonable estimate of the amount you have spent on providing that meal, and you can back up that estimate, then that is exactly right.