How to fill in an income and expenditure form

You will be asked for an income and expenditure form (often shortened to I&E, or called a financial statement) whenever someone needs to decide what you can afford: a lender agreeing a payment arrangement, a council setting up council tax instalments, a debt adviser setting up a plan, or an insolvency practitioner preparing an IVA proposal. The format varies, but the questions are always the same.

If you have not done a budget yet, start with how to make a budget when you are struggling with debt. This page is about turning that budget into a form other people will accept.

Who uses an income and expenditure form, and what for?

FCA rules require lenders to assess your income and expenditure objectively where they do assess it, and they may have regard to the Standard Financial Statement spending guidelines or an equivalent tool. Separately, when you make a repayment offer, a firm must give it due consideration and explain clearly if it says no.

What is the Standard Financial Statement?

The Standard Financial Statement (SFS) is a single income and expenditure format for UK debt advice, run by the Money and Pensions Service. It is replacing the older Common Financial Statement, and it is intended to be recognised by all types of creditor, from banks to councils, utilities and debt collectors.

Two features matter when you fill in your own form:

• Spending guidelines for three “flexible” areas: communications and leisure, housekeeping, and personal costs. They are set by household size and updated every year, with new figures from the first Monday of April. Advisers and creditors compare your figures in these areas with the guidelines.
• A savings category, so a small amount for emergencies can be built into a repayment plan.

Other costs, such as rent, council tax, energy, childcare and travel to work, are based on what you actually pay.

The SFS is not meant for the public to fill in themselves. A debt adviser will usually prepare one for you from your figures. If you are filling in a creditor’s form on your own, use the same approach: real figures, and a reason for anything unusual.

How do you fill it in, section by section?

Most forms follow the same order. Put everything as a monthly figure.

What evidence should you have ready?

You will not always be asked for it, but creditors and advisers can ask for evidence, particularly if your costs look high. StepChange says creditors “may ask for more information if they feel your living costs are high”. Have these ready:

• payslips for the last three months, or accounts and bank statements if you are self-employed
• benefit and pension award letters
• three months of bank statements for every account
• your tenancy agreement or mortgage statement, and your council tax bill
• recent energy, water and phone bills
• childcare invoices and letters about any care costs
• letters from each creditor showing the balance.

For an IVA, the list is longer: see what documents you need for an IVA.

What if your spending is above the guidelines?

That is not automatically a problem. Guidelines are a benchmark for typical households, not a cap. What matters is whether the cost is genuine and necessary. A medical diet, higher heating because someone at home is ill, or travel costs because you work shifts with no public transport are the kinds of thing to explain.

Write a short note next to the figure, and keep the evidence. A figure that is explained is far more likely to be accepted than one that simply looks high. If you are considering an IVA, how much an IVA leaves you to live on explains how practitioners are told to handle higher costs, and what goes into an IVA proposal shows where your figures end up.

If you use our checker, we may pass your details to a licensed insolvency practitioner or debt adviser.

Common mistakes that get offers refused

• Figures that do not match your bank statements. Creditors can compare them. Round numbers for everything suggest guesses.
• Leaving out costs to make the offer bigger. It feels helpful, but a plan you cannot keep up usually ends with missed payments, and in an IVA that can mean failure.
• Forgetting yearly costs such as car servicing, school uniforms and Christmas.
• Counting income that is not reliable, such as overtime you may not get again.
• Missing out a debt. Every creditor should be listed, even ones you are not paying.
• Different figures for different creditors. Send everyone the same statement.
• Paying non-priority debts before priority ones. See priority and non-priority debts.

A worksheet you can copy

Copy these headings into a notebook or spreadsheet and fill in a monthly figure for each.

What to do next

1. Gather your payslips, benefit letters and three months of bank statements.
2. Fill in the worksheet above using real figures, and note the reason for anything unusual.
3. Ask a free adviser to turn it into a Standard Financial Statement and share it with your creditors. Free, impartial debt advice is available from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice and National Debtline: see where to get free debt advice.
4. Once you know what you can afford, compare your options in debt solutions compared, or see our debt problems hub.