Record what a job cost you

An invoice tells you what you charged. It does not tell you what you made. That gap is the wholesaler receipt in the footwell.

Steps

1. Go to Expenses, or add one from the job itself.
2. Who from — the supplier, like City Electrical Factors.
3. When — the date on the receipt.
4. The amount you paid, and the VAT inside it if you are registered.
5. Pick a category.
6. Receipt (optional) — photograph it. HMRC wants it kept for six years and your phone is where it already is.
7. Note (optional) — what it was for, if it will not be obvious in a year.

Against a job, or against the business

An expense with a job on it is a cost of that job. An expense with no job is an overhead — the van, the insurance, the phone bill.

Both count. Only the first changes what a job made.

What a job made

On the job you get what it invoiced, what it cost, and what is left.

That figure runs against what you have actually invoiced, not what you quoted. A quote is a hope. A job you have not invoiced yet reports nothing rather than pretending to be a loss.

Your customer never sees this

Suppliers, amounts and receipts are yours. Nothing here reaches the customer's copy of anything.