You play a wedding in March and the balance arrives in April, on the other side of the tax year. Under the cash basis for self-employed musicians, it counts when it reaches you. Gigflow can now count your income that way.
What’s new
A setting for how income is counted. Choose When you’re paid (cash basis) or When you play the gig (traditional accounting). If you have not chosen, Gigflow counts income when you’re paid.
Reports that match. Under cash, the tax report, accountant CSV, tax PDF and Making Tax Digital records show Money received and Commission paid to agencies.
The basis is always stated. Every tax screen and export says which basis its figures were counted on.
Unpaid gigs are not income. A gig you have played with no payment logged is awaiting payment. It is listed, not counted, with a line such as “3 gigs (£696.00) aren’t counted yet because no payment is logged”.
How it works
Open Settings and tap How your income is counted, or tap Change beside the basis line on a tax screen. Pick an option and save.
Under cash, money counts on the day it reaches you and agency commission counts on the day you pay it. The app describes this as HMRC’s standard for sole traders and what most performers use. Choose traditional only if you or your accountant use it for your tax return. If you use profit averaging, ask your accountant first, because HMRC does not let you combine it with the cash basis.
Mileage stays on gig dates under both options. It is a journey, not a payment.
Why it matters
The figure in your tax report should be one you can check against your bank statement. Counting money when it arrives does that, and it makes logging each payment worth the ten seconds it takes.
Related: Tax estimates that use the right rates for each tax year
