Once registered with HMRC, you’ll need to start looking at the income you’ve received. There’s a number of key income streams for a consultant:
Each week, members pay a fee to join or attend your Slimming World group. This is income as you’re receiving payment for goods or services which are being provided.
The original amount which the member (or ‘customer’ in business terms) pays is taken into account. If the member pays £10 to join, the £10 is income – not the amount you retain as earnings.
Retained Earnings
Do not solely use your retained earnings figure as your income – this is an amount after other items (such as rent) have been deducted, and is inaccurate.
Calculate your income
To calculate the total member fees recevied from your group, use the below calculation:
Nett Fees A + Retained Earnings + Rent Paid = Total Fees Taken
It is easy to find these figures from your monthly PFS Document which summarises the whole month for you, an example of this is shown below for a 5-week ‘Slimming World Month’.
From this example, using the numbers in week 1, you would calculate the group income (membership fees) from the using the calculation above.
The total would therefore be:
Week 1:
Nett Fees A + Retained Earnings + Rent Paid = Total Fees Taken
Therefore,
£112.33 + £91.91 + £50 = £254.24 Member fees income for this group
Group Shop Sales/Hifi
Items which you sell in your group shop, such as books or motivational tools, should have the full selling price logged. For example, if you sell ‘Book A’ for £4.95, you should consider the full amount as your income for this, not the commission you make (mark up) on the product.
Example:
Josh buys a book from the supplier which costs £4.65, however the product is sold at £4.95 in his group. (30p markup)
The amount to consider as income is the full amount which the product is sold for, £4.95.
The £4.65 cost is an expense which is logged elsewhere
For hifis and magazines, Slimming World is treating you as an exclusive ‘agent’ and these items are on a Sale or Return basis. As such, you can use the commission value to calculate the amount of income you’re receiving from these. The figure for this is shown on your PFS Document.
However, if you are invoiced direct for Hifi Bars (e.g. additional ones which are not sold through your franchise), these can be calculated at the full fee. Keep the receipt, and claim as an expense.
Other Income…
There’s a few other sources of income to think about – such as:
- Selling between colleagues – have you sold any visuals or items to other colleagues? If so, the payment is classed as income for your business
- Advertising with colleagues – if someone sends you money for a group advert, promotional materials or anything in this form, again it’s income
- Recruitment bonuses/prizes – it’s the business who receive these, therefore income
There may be other items not mentioned above – however anytime your business receives money, it’s income, and HMRC want to know about this.