Drawings and Capital Introduced Log

Who this is for

What you took out, and what you put in. Every time money moves between you and the business it gets a line here, so personal movements never get mixed up with business income and costs. The running figure shows your net drawings so far.

Sole traders who pay themselves from the business account, who sometimes top the business up from savings, or who pay business costs from a personal card and need to record it.

What this helps you track

• Each withdrawal for personal use, with the date and how it was taken
• Money put into the business from savings or a personal account
• Business costs you paid personally, recorded as money put in
• A running net figure of drawings less capital introduced
• The year's totals and your average drawings per month

How to use it

1. Write the business, the year the log covers and how many months it runs for at the top.
2. Add a line whenever you move money out of the business for yourself, with the amount in the drawings column.
3. Add a line whenever you put money in, or pay a business cost from your own pocket, with the amount in the capital in column.
4. Pick the method so you can find the movement later on a statement or in the cash tin.
5. The running net figure and the totals are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, add drawings and take off capital as you go.
6. At the year end, give the totals to whoever prepares your accounts, or carry them to your year-end summary.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What counts as drawings?

Money or goods you take out of the business for yourself: transfers to a personal account, cash from the takings, stock taken home. It is not a business cost, so it does not go in your expenses records.

Why record business costs I paid personally?

Because the business owes you for them. Recording them as capital in keeps the books honest: the cost goes in your expense records as usual, and this log shows that the money came from you.

What does the net position column show?

A running total of drawings less capital introduced since the start of the log. A rising figure means more has gone out to you than has come in from you.

How is the monthly average worked out?

Total drawings divided by the number of months you enter at the top. Enter the months the log actually covers, so a part year gives a fair figure.