Income And Expenditure Form & Financial Statement. StepChange (2024)

Also called a common or standard financial statement.

It lists all your monthly:

• Income
• Spending
• Debts

It is used to:

• Understand your financial situation
• Show what you can afford to pay

'Common financial statement' is the same as:

• 'Income and expenditure form'
• 'Standard financial statement'

It is used by financial institutions to:

• Separate different types of income
• Track spending
• Understand what is 'normal' for different households

This is the first step of debt advice.

It is shared with creditors to explain what you can afford.

Some expenses are more important than others.

These are the sections in a typical I&E form:

1. Your income

What money do you receive on a regular basis?

This includes:

• Income from employment or self employment
• Working / Child Tax Credit
• Universal Credit
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income Support
• Housing Benefit
• Any pension payments you receive
• Rent or board income
• Housekeeping money
• Child maintenance

Including all your income means creditors get an accurate picture of your situation.

Use our benefits calculator to see if there are any benefits you could be getting.

2. Your priority bills

Household bills are your most important expenses.

Missing payments on priority bills can have severe consequences.

For example, not paying your mortgage could lead to repossession proceedings.

Priority bills include:

• Rent/mortgage
• Secured loan payment
• Council tax (or Rates if you live in Northern Ireland)
• Gas
• Electricity
• Water (except for Scotland or Northern Ireland residents, as water is included in Council tax or Rates)
• Other fuel, such as oil, logs or coal
• TV licence
• Service charge or ground rent
• Hire purchases or logbook loans, typically for a car
• County Court judgments
• Decrees if you live in Scotland or Judgments in Northern Ireland)
• Magistrates court fines (for example TV licence fines or criminal fines)
• Child maintenance
• Arrears on any of the bills listed above

3. Your other spending

These expenses are important but not as urgent as priority bills.

For example, you may need to pay for breaking contract if you cancel your TV package, but you will not lose your house (like if you don’t pay your mortgage).

‘Other spending’ includes:

Other spending includes:

• Car insurance, tax, or breakdown cover
• Digital television or streaming services
• Buildings and contents insurance
• Life insurance or pension
• Telephone and internet
• Public transport
• Repairs and maintenance costs (such as heating cover or boiler insurance)
• Medical or accident insurance
• Household appliances that you rent
• Educational fees
• Church or charity donations
• Union or professional fees
• Laundry or dry cleaning costs
• Smoking costs
• Loans from family or friends

4. Living costs

This is day to day spending. Use recent shopping receipts or bank statements to work out an average for typical living costs.

These include:

• Food costs
• Clothing and footwear
• Toiletries
• Hairdressing
• Dentists
• Opticians
• Sundries and emergencies
• Medicines or prescriptions
• Sports, hobbies and entertainment
• Newspapers or magazines
• School activities and pocket money
• Savings
• Petrol and parking costs

Your creditor may ask for more information if they feel your living costs are high.

5. Your non-priority debts

List all the debts you owe. Include the payment you can make towards them.

What you offer your creditors is based on how much is left after you have covered your priority household bills, other expenses, and living costs.

Priority debts are ones that can impact your home, health and safety. Read more about them here.

Non-priority debts include:

• Unsecured loans
• Credit cards
• Overdrafts
• Store cards
• Payday loans
• Catalogue repayments
• Doorstep loans, from lenders such as Provident
• Cancelled contracts (such as gym memberships, mobiles phones and satellite TV)
• Arrears from old energy providers
• Arrears from old rental contracts

Non-priority debts become priority debts if the creditor is granted a County Court judgment (CCJ) against you. (A decree in Scotland. A money judgment in Northern Ireland.)

6. Offer of payment

Some I&E forms ask you what you think you can afford to pay towards your debt.

Go through your figures and work out what you can realistically offer.

Even if the offer is small, write it down anyway.