How to sort self-employed expenses from a bank statement
Download your business account's statement as CSV or Excel and choose it above. Each payment goes into an allowable expense box of the SA103 page you choose, and each box is added up. You check every row, move any that landed in the wrong box, mark personal spending, and download the totals and rows as CSV. The keyword rules follow HMRC's notes: box 20 of SA103F includes fuel, parking, train and taxi fares, box 23 phone, postage, stationery and software, and box 24 advertising and website costs.
What are allowable expenses for the self-employed?
Allowable expenses are the running costs of your business that you deduct to work out your taxable profit; according to GOV.UK they do not include money taken from the business for personal use. Keywords cannot know your business: a fuel payment may be partly private, and some costs are capital spending. The tool does not split business and private use and does not fill the disallowable expenses column of SA103F. Check every figure with HMRC guidance on allowable expenses or an accountant. Guidance only, not tax advice.
HMRC expense categories: the SA103F boxes
| Box | Allowable expenses (SA103F, 2025 to 2026) |
|---|---|
| 17 | Cost of goods bought for resale or goods used |
| 18 | Construction industry: payments to subcontractors |
| 19 | Wages, salaries and other staff costs |
| 20 | Car, van and travel expenses |
| 21 | Rent, rates, power and insurance costs |
| 22 | Repairs and maintenance of property and equipment |
| 23 | Phone, fax, stationery and other office costs |
| 24 | Advertising and business entertainment costs |
| 25 | Interest on bank and other loans |
| 26 | Bank, credit card and other financial charges |
| 27 | Irrecoverable debts written off |
| 28 | Accountancy, legal and other professional fees |
| 29 | Depreciation and loss or profit on sale of assets |
| 30 | Other business expenses |
The short page, SA103S, groups the same costs into boxes 11 to 19, totalled in box 20; SA103F totals in box 31. Both forms say that if your annual turnover was below 90,000 pounds you may put your total expenses in one box instead.
Your statement stays on your device
The file is read and sorted in your browser, and the CSV files are made there too. Nothing is uploaded. How to check this yourself. Filing in the United States? Use the 1099 expenses sorter for Schedule C.
Sources
- HMRC: Self Assessment, Self-employment (full) SA103F, form and notes for 2026
- HMRC: Self Assessment, Self-employment (short) SA103S, form and notes for 2026
- GOV.UK: Expenses if you're self-employed
Sources checked 26 October 2026.