Naming Convention
Files should include date, supplier and amount where possible. A useful example is 2026-04-18 Screwfix 84.20. The point is not tidiness for its own sake. It lets a later reviewer find the proof without opening forty images.
Records Standard
If the records can be evidenced, they can be relied on.
This page is deliberately stricter than a sales page. It sets the way contractor records must arrive so the monthly close can be useful, defensible and ready for the accountant at year end.
Email hello@7fignig.comReceipts And Invoices
Proof Must Be Searchable And Matched
Acceptable Formats
PDF invoices, clear photographs, supplier email invoices and exported platform receipts are accepted. Blurry images, cropped totals and screenshots with no supplier detail are sent back as queries.
Deadline
Monthly receipts and invoices should be supplied by the 5th working day. Late evidence may be posted into the next close or held as a query depending on VAT and year end impact.
What Is Not Enough
A bank line showing a shop name is not proof of business purpose. A calendar entry is not a mileage log. A WhatsApp message is not a CIS deduction statement.
Bank Feeds And Cards
The Ledger Starts With Complete Accounts
All business current accounts, business savings accounts used for tax reserves, business credit cards and payment platforms must be connected or supplied in full. If a personal card is used for business, those lines must be clearly identified and supported.
- Personal spending through a company is posted to the director loan account, not hidden in expenses.
- Transfers between business accounts are matched rather than treated as income or costs.
- Cash withdrawals require a business purpose and evidence. Unsupported cash-heavy activity is not accepted.
- Spreadsheet-only records are accepted only for annual return work or migration.
Mileage, Subsistence And Working Away
Travel Costs Cannot Be Guessed Later
Mileage logs need date, start point, destination, business purpose and miles. Subsistence and accommodation records need the contract or site context. Working away expenses should show why the cost belongs to that job rather than to ordinary commuting.
A contractor who waits until January to estimate nine months of mileage is not supplying records. They are supplying a memory exercise, and it will be treated as a query.
CIS And Site Paperwork
Deductions Need The Statement, Not Just The Net Receipt
- Monthly deduction statements should be supplied for each contractor or site.
- Remittance advice should be supplied where it explains gross labour, materials, retention or deductions.
- Labour-only checks are raised where the paperwork appears to mix labour and materials.
- Missing deduction statements are listed for the client to chase. They are not invented from the bank receipt.
VAT Quarter Checklist
The 5th Working Day Rule
| Required By The 5th Working Day | Reason |
|---|---|
| All sales invoices for the quarter | To confirm output tax and invoice timing. |
| Purchase invoices and expense receipts | To support input VAT and business purpose. |
| Bank feed access and card statements | To reconcile the ledger to real cash movement. |
| CIS deduction statements where relevant | To separate VAT position from deductions suffered. |
| Mileage and working away records | To avoid estimates during the VAT close. |
| Reverse charge, import or platform paperwork | To avoid miscoding items that need special VAT treatment. |
Long Owner Note
Why Discipline Protects The Contractor
The habit I want contractors to build is simple: every number should have a route back to evidence. Contractors are often paid irregularly, taxed in layers and asked to move quickly between sites, platforms or projects. That makes false profit easy. One missing CIS statement can make a month look healthier than it was. One company card used casually for personal spending can make the director loan account look harmless until year end. One quarter of loose receipts can turn a sensible VAT reserve into a surprise bill.
Disciplined records are not about pleasing a bookkeeper. They protect the contractor from making decisions on numbers that are not yet true. They also protect the accountant from inheriting a year of small mysteries in one large bundle. When the monthly books are closed properly, there is less panic around self assessment, fewer ugly corrections at accounts time and a clearer view of whether the business is actually producing the profit the contractor thinks it is producing.
That is why 7FigNIG asks for bank feed access, file evidence, mileage logs and CIS statements before promising a close date. The standard may feel firm at the beginning, but it is much kinder than discovering in month eleven that the records were only tidy on the surface.