Taxi Driver Online
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/

Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on your
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40273		 Page 1 of 3
Author:  DriverDenny [ Sun Mar 03, 2024 7:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on your
Last night i posted a short 10 min video It is how to make a spreadsheet that covers every cost (you can claim on your taxes) of being a driver and a way to work out how much you have to earn per hour just to get min wage.

With the new piece of legislation that passed in parliament about gig work being submitted to HMRC i thought people may what to know how to work this out. its useful for both black cabs and private hire

Hope it helps someone


https://youtu.be/uB6IhTQBPqA?si=MyLArS6RFyNotBXR
Author:  Sussex [ Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
This thread has been moved here.

I suspect more drivers earn less than the minimum wage, when you take into consideration all the costs, than actually exceed it.

Basically we are as nutty as fruit cakes.

You can also claim back the cost of buying a vehicle as well as any interest.
Author:  Sussex [ Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
I’m also not sure a scary view of yourself is what the viewer of YouTube want. :D

Personally I prefer just voice overs. But well done for at least making an effort.
Author:  DriverDenny [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Lmao, thanks I think haha
Author:  XH558 [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Excel is something I've never got to grips with, so this is actually handy
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 3:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Mr XH558, one suggestion if you're new to spreadsheets is maybe to ignore the use of the functions that DD was using, and instead use simple formulas for calculations. That way you can maybe get more of a feel for how it all works from the ground up rather than getting tangled up with functions and the like.

But a cell in which you want to do a calculation will always start with the = sign. For example, if you type a number in cell F1, and want to add it to a number in F2, then in another cell type the following:

=F1+F2

Or, similar to what DD did, if you want to multiply a number in F1 by 12 (to get a yearly total of monthly figures, most obviously), then in another cell simply type:

=F1*12


Or you can do more complex formulas. For example, if you wanted a weekly equivalent of the number above, you could do:

=(F1*12)/52


The functions that DD was using are useful for more complex stuff and as time-savers. For example, suppose you wanted to add the contents of seven adjacent cells. You could use:

=F1+F2+F3+F4+F5+F6+F7

However, the following does the same thing over the same range of cells:

=SUM(F1:F7)


For example, I use a monthly spreadsheet for my tax records, on which I enter daily totals. Thus to get totals for the whole month the function is something like:

=SUM(F1:F31)

Which adds each of the month's 31 days up, basically. (Of course, in reality the first number isn't actually in row 1, because there are titles at the top of the spreadsheet, but you get the idea...)


So anyone who can do arithmetical formulas can do the same thing on a spreadsheet, basically. And there are a huge number of functions and similar that can perform numerous complex calculations :-o

Eg, if you work five nights, and have your takings for each night in a column of cells, you could work our your average with this:

=AVERAGE(F1:F5)
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 3:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
I'm still using Excel 2003 :lol: , but the basic formulas and the like are the same in any spreadsheet, I think.

So anyone who doesn't want to pay for the latest version of Excel can use a free download like OpenOffice, or Google documents online (or whatever it's called) and the basic formulas and functions should be the same :idea:
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 4:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
An example of a formula I would use on the spreadsheet would be to skip the number that's in cell K24 - the number of hours worked in a year, which computes to 2,080 (52 x 40).

Instead, you could use a formula to divide the total expenses by the number of hours worked in the year to get the average cost per hour. So in cell K27 (cost per hour) the following formula could be used:

=I40/(K23*52)

Which basically divides the total expenses for the year by the number of hours worked per year.
Author:  DriverDenny [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Would be helpful if you made a comment on the YouTube post with that information on the other things u can use. I would but don't know enough about them.
Author:  Sussex [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 5:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Don’t think they have YouTube that far north.

But I don’t think he would mind if you copied and pasted it.
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 6:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Well Sussex is half right - bought my first PC back in 1996 or thereabouts, and was online not long after. But have never left a comment under a YouTube video :-o

And the kind of thing DD is doing isn't really my gig anyway - I just work to pay the bills, basically, and have a fair idea what I need to do to pay them, after 28 years at it :x

(But actually doing it is another matter entirely :roll: )

And another reason I don't bother with the kind of stuff DD is doing is because I tend to get a bit obsessive/anal about things like that, so best to avoid it entirely =;

(For years I'd sometimes count all my change and notes several times a shift and tally them with the fares I'd taken and my float 8-[

And still always keep thinking I've given people too much change, or have lost a banknote, or whatever, but it's not so often these days that I count absolutely everything during a shift - and obviously if it's mostly cards then that's a different kettle of fish, but of course that's led to another totally different set of OCD-ish behaviours ](*,) )

I do use some fairly straightforward spreadsheets to keep my records on, though, but that's mostly just adding and substracting things, so isn't that difficult.

I also use a couple of spreadsheets for my tax stuff, and the most complicated formulas are on the ones I use to try to work out how much tax I'm owing :-o
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 6:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Anyways...

...as regards the spreadsheets, for anyone who hasn't really done any then I think it's possibly better to avoid the functions like AVERAGE() or IF() to start off with.

Instead, probably better to concentrate on basic formulas and suchlike to do the calculations, and use them to construct the spreadsheet, some examples of which I've included above.

I've got one that I use to keep track of my bank account, for example, and that has one column for deposits, and the next column is for payments.

The next column contains the formula for the running balance. For example:

=F91+D92-E92

So if you copy a formula like that all the way down the running balance column, all it's doing is starting with the balance in the cell above, then adding any deposit in the D column, and subtracting any payment in the E column. (Normally either the D or E cell would be blank, because obviously you wouldn't put a deposit and payment on the same line...)

A trickier wee bit is, for example, if you want to add a fixed amount from a savings account, say, to calculate your total cash in another column you need to do something like this:

=F92+$K$13

So that takes the running balance from the current accout, and adds on the balance from the savings account, which is in cell K13.

Not easy to explain what's going on with the K13 cell in the formula, but basically because it's a fixed amount and always in the same cell, when you copy the formula down the column it doesn't update it in the way that a spreadsheet normally does, and it just retains the same figure.

Of course, there are no doubt free software packages and the like that will do things like that a lot easier, but if you want to get to grips with spreadsheets then doing simple stuff like that is probably a good way to start.
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Mar 04, 2024 7:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Not sure if this link will work, but for what it's worth this is a simple Google spreadsheet showing the two formulas I described above. All pretty straightforward by spreadsheet standards, but shows how to use a basic formula, and one that fixes the cell with the savings account number.

You can just copy the formula down columns E and F as you add more transactions onto the sheet, and the formula will update accordingly :-o

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... li=1#gid=0

To copy down the contents of cell E14, say, just select the cell with the mouse or touchpad. You'll see some sort of symbol in the bottom right corner (all the spreadsheet packages are pretty similar with that kind of stuff). Use your mouse/touchpad to select the symbol in the corner, then just drag it down the column, and all the cells will be updated with the relevant formula [-(

And, for example, if you need to update the savings account figure then the total cash column on the right will be automatically updated all the way down.
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Tue Mar 05, 2024 6:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
Personally i find a pencil and A4 enough and my profit and loss is whatever my bank balance shows
Author:  roythebus [ Tue Mar 05, 2024 8:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cost per hour to be a driver and things u can claim on y
I posted a similar spreadsheet on here many years ago, how many people used it I never did find out. I found it very helpful especially when I found out I'd make more money in an evening doing £5 fares round the town than doing an airport run.

In my old town there was only 1 HC, the rest were independent PH. Talking to the HC driver one day he was moaning about how much tax he was having to pay. I asked him a few questions, annual "live" miles, annual dead miles, his rough cash income, car insurance etc., mpg of his car, how often he'd have to replace tyres.. I put the figures through my system and found he was actually making a loss, and if he worked less hours he'd actually make a profit! He was running most jobs at a loss and not even making minimum wage for his time. Very often less is more. He was surprised when I told him his tyres were costing him something like 0.04p per mile in wear and tear, not much by the sound of it, but at the mileage he was doing it soon mounts up.

I costed a typical airport run, with LHR 102 miles from base. 208 miles @ the HMRC rate of 45p/mile= £91.80, then a good 5 hours driving @ min wage £10/hour=£50, plus waiting time at LHR, parking/drop off fees at LHR, and he was getting £100 for an airport run. Why bother working for a loss? The only way to actually make money on th airport run was if there was a back working pre-booked, very unlikely from my part of the world.
Page 1 of 3 All times are UTC [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/