Home office utilities

Recording home office utility bills for a business is an important task for maintaining accurate financial records and taking advantage of possible tax deductions, Richie88. Here’s a guide tailored for your situation using QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE).

You have the option to record expenses as a lump sum or in detail individually. For simplicity, consider recording the total allowable expense once a month, rather than entering each bill separately, as this achieves the same accounting result. Here's how:

1. Go to your QBSE dashboard.
2. Select Transactions.
3. Click Add Transaction.
4. Enter the total allowable expense amount. Choose the appropriate category, such as Utilities or Home Office Expenses.
5. Add a description, like Home Office Utility Bills - [Month].
6. Press Save.

If you prefer to record each bill individually for detailed tracking, follow these steps for each utility bill.

1. Create Separate Entries
2. For each utility bill, repeat the steps above, entering the calculated business portion of each bill instead of the lump sum.
3. Ensure that each entry has a clear description indicating which utility it is (e.g., “Electricity - Home Office - [Month]”)

I also encourage checking these resources above to learn more about the method used in QBSE and managing deductions: 

• Simplified Expenses mileage method versus Actual costs for vehicles.
• Allowable and disallowable Expenses.

Using these methods in QBSE will allow you to properly track and report your home office utility expenses, helping you maintain careful and accurate financial records for your business.