Can I Put Wastage Down as an Expense on My Mobile Catering Accounts?

by lorna
(stoke on trent )

Mobile catering trailer parked on a UK building development site

Mobile catering trailer parked on a UK building development site

Hi, i have been trading for 6 months now and really enjoy it. My question is can i put wastage down as an expense on the accounts? Some days i have hardly any waste but due to my trailer being on a building development the weather affects my business alot and some days i can have a huge amount of waste. Upto now i have not recorded the waste as i dont know how or even if its allowed. Obviously the profit is going be affected if i cant show wastage.
anyone out there that has been trading for a while or knows the answer to wastage please help.
thanks very much

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May 26, 2026
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by: MobCater

Lorna, this is one of those questions that catches almost every new trader out, and the good news is that yes, your wasted food absolutely counts as a business cost. You paid for that stock with the intention of selling it, and whether it sold or ended up in the bin doesn't change the fact that the money left your account. So the cost is allowable. The only thing HMRC really wants is for you to be able to show how you got to the figure if they ever ask.

The simplest way to handle it is to stop trying to record waste as a separate line. Most mobile caterers run on the cash basis, which means everything you buy in stock for the business goes into your "cost of goods" or purchases for the year. Whatever you sold, whatever you ate, whatever the weather ruined, it's already accounted for inside that total stock spend. Your profit is just turnover minus those purchases minus your other running costs like gas, pitch fees and insurance. You don't need a special wastage column for tax.

Where a wastage log does earn its keep is on the business side, not the tax side. If you keep a quick daily sheet with date, item, rough quantity and a one-word reason like "rain" or "burnt" or "fridge out", you start to see patterns within a few weeks. On a building development pitch like yours, where the weather is the boss, that log tells you whether you're prepping too much on Mondays, or whether half your waste is one slow product you could drop from the menu. That's where the real money is hiding.

A paper diary in the van is fine, but I built the Daily Sales Tracker into the app (Toolkit tier) so you can log takings and wastage on your phone and pull a clean PDF at year end. That same PDF is handy if your accountant ever queries why your food cost percentage looks high in a wet month. It's also EHO ready, which is a useful side benefit.

One more thing worth saying. If you ever end up VAT registered or you bring an accountant in, ask them whether you'd be better off on the traditional accruals basis where opening and closing stock are valued at year end. For most one-trailer operations the cash basis is simpler and the answer on wastage is the same either way, but it's worth a five minute conversation.

All the best

David

Disclaimer: This is based on my experience running a mobile catering business and is not tax advice. Tax rules and reliefs can change, and your circumstances may differ, so always speak to a qualified accountant or check the latest HMRC guidance on Self Assessment expenses before filing your return.

Try the free MobCater App, our startup checklist and guide walks you through every step: https://www.mobcater.co.uk/mobile-catering.html

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