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Is there an option for 'Administrative costs' instead of 'Cost of raw materials and consumables' in full accounts?

Posted by Chris Wilson 1 Jan 2026 at 13:07
My main costs are equipment, computing, subscriptions and media. Cost of raw materials and consumables seems like an innacurate description for expenses incurred without producing physical goods. I can't see any alternative. Is there one?

2 Comments

T
Tim Fouracre Staff 1 Jan 2026 at 13:38
The categories we use are the micro-entity account categories required by Companies House and as such they are fixed.

Cost of raw materials and consumables seems appropriate for the expenses you list.
C
Chris Wilson 1 Jan 2026 at 13:51
Thanks for that. I also asked ChatGPT which gave me the following response. As tax experts, what's your view on this. Thanks!

1. Cost of raw materials and consumables

Usually £0 for you
Only use this if you:
Buy physical inputs, that are used up in making goods you sell

Do NOT put:
Software
Subscriptions
Equipment
Books/media for research
Hosting, cloud, SaaS

For a computing / media-heavy business, this is normally nil.

4. Other charges ← this is your “Administrative expenses”
This is where almost all your real-world costs go.
For you, this would include:

Software subscriptions (Adobe, Microsoft, etc.)
Cloud hosting & domains
Computing costs
Internet & phone
Equipment below capitalisation threshold
Repairs & maintenance
Books, films, media for research/reference
Professional fees (accountancy, legal)
Insurance
Travel (non-staff mileage if reimbursed)

Common mistake to avoid:
Putting subscriptions or computing costs into “raw materials”
→ This can make your gross margin meaningless and look wrong to HMRC.