Personal Budgeting & AffordabilityIncome & Expenditure
What comes in, what goes out, and what is left each month? A free income and expenditure form and template that turns weekly, monthly and yearly amounts into one monthly statement, groups your spending the way a mortgage lender or debt adviser does, and shows what is left, what a lender would make of it, and what happens if your mortgage rate goes up. Applying for finance? Choose the case — residential, buy-to-let, HMO, semi-commercial, commercial, bridging or development — and the statement asks only the personal questions that lender needs. Download it as Excel or PDF. Nothing is sent anywhere. Reviewed 10 September 2026.
Your money in, your money out, and what is left — a budget and affordability calculator
Type in what you know, say how often it comes in or goes out, and every figure is turned into a monthly amount. The answer shows what is left each month and what a lender would make of it. Round numbers are fine to start. Nothing you type is sent to HMRC, to a lender or to us.
Handy to have: your last three months of bank statements, a recent payslip, and your latest bills. About 10 minutes for a budget, 20 for a mortgage.
| Type | Who it is with | Balance owed | Monthly payment | Lender counts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total owed / paid each month | £0 | £0 | £0 | ||
Bank statement helper — turn three months of statements into monthly figures
Enter each regular payment from your statements with its category. Say how many months the statements cover and the helper averages them; Use these figures puts the averages into the form above. Nothing leaves your device.
Paste lines from a statement or spreadsheet instead
Copy rows from your online banking or a spreadsheet and paste them here — one line per payment, with a date, a description and an amount. Amounts are treated as money out unless they start with a plus sign (+2,650.00 for pay coming in). Comma-, tab- or space-separated all work. Then set the category on each line.
| Description | Category | Out | In |
|---|
Landlord Tax Enquiry prepares income and expenditure statements from your bank statements, reconciled line by line, in the format lenders and debt advisers expect. West London based, working across England. Records, not advice. We are not FCA-regulated and do not advise on or arrange regulated mortgages; for commercial, bridging or development finance we can introduce you to BCL Commercial Finance (non-regulated) — see Financial Services.
An Income and Expenditure Statement the Way Lenders Read It
The groups follow the standard form used across UK lending and debt advice, in the order a lender works through them.
What your surplus means — and what to do next
Your monthly surplus is the single most useful number a lender looks at. A healthy, stable surplus tells a lender you can comfortably absorb a mortgage payment; a tight one is a signal to reduce borrowing, cut costs, or wait. If the figure looks tight, the practical next steps are the ordinary ones: trim the “nice-to-haves”, clear or reduce expensive debt (which frees up the biggest slice), and avoid taking on new commitments before you apply.
Once you know your surplus, the natural next question is how much it could support. Our BTL Affordability & ICR calculator takes a rent figure and shows what a lender might lend against it, and the Liability Estimator helps you plan for the tax side. This is general information to help you prepare — not advice about your own borrowing.
One Income and Expenditure Template, Five Situations
The same form works for a household budget, a mortgage application, a landlord, a self-employed applicant and a debt plan. Choose the purpose at the top and it asks only for what that needs.
Income and Expenditure Form: Your Questions
What is an income and expenditure form?
A one-page list of everything that comes in each month and everything that goes out, ending with what is left. Mortgage lenders, debt advisers, courts and letting agents all ask for one. This page groups your spending the way lenders and debt advisers do, so the figures can go straight onto their forms.
How do I turn weekly or yearly amounts into monthly ones?
You do not have to. Choose how often each amount comes in or goes out and the page works out the monthly figure for you. For the record: weekly is times 52 then divided by 12; every four weeks is times 13 then divided by 12; yearly is divided by 12. Never multiply weekly by four.
What do lenders count as bills you must pay?
Payments you cannot easily stop. Your mortgage or rent, loan and card payments, car finance, childcare, child maintenance, school fees, council tax, ground rent and insurance. On credit cards and overdrafts a lender counts at least 3% of the balance a month, even if you pay less. They take these off your income first.
Should I put in what I earn before tax, or after?
After tax, for the monthly figures: what actually lands in your bank. If you are applying for a mortgage, the page also asks for your yearly pay before tax, because lenders usually lend up to about 4.5 times that. If you have a business, see the next question.
I take money out of my business as and when I need it. What goes on the statement?
Two things. First, what the business actually paid you, averaged over the last twelve months from its bank statements. That is your cash and it is what paid your bills. Second, what the business earned: its profit before your tax if you are a sole trader or hold property in your own name; your salary and dividends if it is a limited company. A lender counts the second and compares it with the first. Money taken from a limited company that has not been sorted into salary or dividends is a loan from the company until your accountant sorts it. It is your cash, but a lender will not count it as income. If you owe the company money at the year end, it belongs under Money you owe. Tax you pay HMRC yourself is one of your bills, spread over the year.
How much can I borrow, and what is the stress test?
Two checks. The first is simple: most lenders lend up to about 4.5 times your yearly pay before tax. The second is the one that matters. The lender takes the income it counts, takes off your bills and its own minimum living costs, and checks that the new mortgage payment fits both at today's rate and at a higher rate, in case rates rise. Lenders set that higher rate themselves; this page uses about three points above yours, which is typical. That is the stress test. Choose the mortgage option on this page and both checks are shown.
What will a lender ask to see?
If you are employed: three months of payslips, your latest P60 and three months of bank statements. If you are self-employed: two years of tax calculations and tax year overviews from HMRC, and your accounts if you have a company. For benefits or maintenance: the letters or court order. For rental income: the tenancy agreements and statements. In mortgage mode the page shows what to gather beside each income line.
What is a good amount to have left each month?
There is no magic number. Lenders want to see that your bills and essentials leave a clear gap, and that the gap survives a rise of about three points on the mortgage rate. Debt advisers use what is left to work out what you can offer. If you are short month after month, something needs to change before you borrow more.
Do I include savings and pension contributions as spending?
No. Savings are what you do with what is left, not spending, so the page keeps them separate under What you put aside. Pension taken from your pay is already gone before the money reaches you, so leave that out. Contributions you pay yourself and regular savings go in that section, and the page shows how much of your income you save. A lender treats it as money you could stop; a debt adviser may ask you to.
Why does the page ask what leaves my bank, and about savings I could get at?
Because the figures people write down almost never match their bank. Everyone forgets cash, subscriptions, transfers to family and one-offs. So the page asks what really leaves your bank each month and shows any gap. A lender will find it anyway. Savings you could get at within a month tell a lender how long you could keep paying the bills if your income stopped. Under one month is the biggest warning sign for missed payments. Three months or more is what lenders like to see.
How do I use my bank statements to fill this in?
Take three full months of statements, or six if you are self-employed. Either add up each type of spending yourself and divide by the number of months, or paste the lines into the statement helper on this page and let it do the averaging. Put cash withdrawals on their own line. Lenders notice when they are large and unexplained.
I am applying for buy-to-let, commercial, bridging or development finance. What does the lender want from this page?
Not the figures for the property or the business. The lender looks at those separately. From you it wants the personal picture: your own income and spending, anything you will pay towards the loan from your own pocket, bridging interest if you pay it monthly, whether you could live through a build with no income from the site, and, for buy-to-let, usually a personal income of at least about £25,000. If your company is borrowing, the lender will ask you to guarantee the loan personally, and this page is what backs that up. Choose the case type and only those questions are asked.
I have had credit problems. A CCJ, a default, an IVA, bankruptcy. Does that stop me?
Rarely, but it decides which lenders you can use. High-street lenders want a clean recent history. Specialist lenders will lend after missed payments, paid-off defaults and CCJs, a finished IVA or a discharged bankruptcy, usually with rules about how long ago and how much. Rough guide: things over three years old and paid off are mostly ignored; a bankruptcy needs to be discharged and usually three to six years old; a repossession usually three years; payday loans in the last year shut a lot of doors. Tell your broker everything. A problem you mention can be placed; a problem the lender finds ends the application. Get your free credit reports from all three agencies before you apply.
Is this mortgage advice, and is Landlord Tax Enquiry regulated?
No, and no. Landlord Tax Enquiry is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This page explains how lenders look at your money and shows the sums on your own figures. It does not recommend any lender or product and its results are not a lending decision. A mortgage on your own home, or a consumer buy-to-let, is regulated, so take it to an FCA-authorised adviser; you can find one at register.fca.org.uk. Our only role in finance is to introduce clients to Broker's Choice Limited t/a BCL Commercial Finance for non-regulated commercial, bridging and development finance. BCL is not FCA-regulated, and non-regulated lending is outside FCA consumer protections, the Financial Ombudsman Service and the FSCS.
Is my information saved or sent anywhere?
Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else. Your figures stay on this page unless you switch on Remember on this device, save them as a file, or download them as Excel or PDF. There is no account and no sign-up.
Ready to talk it through? Send us the details
This is fixable — and you can do a lot of it yourself. For a straightforward case, the free tools take you through it step by step, no accountant needed. For the genuinely complex ones, a professional earns their keep — and we’re here if you want one, or if you’d simply rather not do it alone. The choice is yours.
There’s no charge to make contact and no obligation. Hands-on help starts from a fixed £450 case review, and the full price is always agreed with you before any work begins.