This article is for you if:
You are facing questions about the turnover figure used in a Bounce Back Loan application.
You are considering whether bank receipts, client money, commission, grants, loans or transfers counted as turnover.
A mismatch has arisen between the application, annual accounts, tax records and bank statements.
Money received is not always turnover. A bank statement shows cash moving, but not necessarily who earned it, which period it belongs to, or whether the company was acting for somebody else.
Reconstruct first. Explain second.
If the records are scattered, you can upload Excel exports, invoices, contracts and statements to Unwildered and ask Caira to create a first-pass list of receipts and possible duplicates. Check that list against the originals.
Start with the scheme calculation
The official British Business Bank BBLS lender manual states that the ordinary maximum was the lower of £50,000 and 25% of calendar-year 2019 turnover. Estimated annual turnover was available where the business was established after 1 January 2019.
That means the starting period was usually 1 January to 31 December 2019—not automatically the company’s latest filed accounting year. A company with a 30 September year-end may need a bridge using records from two accounting periods.
The application, top-up request and lender audit trail remain important. A top-up did not invite a new figure: the combined facility was limited by the turnover originally stated.
A bank credit needs a classification
Receipt type | Possible treatment | Evidence to check |
|---|---|---|
Sale to the company’s customer | Candidate turnover, subject to timing | Contract, invoice, ledger and payment |
Client money or refundable deposit | May belong to somebody else | Agreement, client ledger and onward payment |
Transfer between the company’s accounts | Not new revenue | Both statements and matching references |
Loan or director funding | Financing, not turnover | Facility document and loan account |
Grant | Depends on the applicable accounting treatment; not simply sales | Award notice, conditions and ledger |
Refund or reversed payment | May reduce or reverse an earlier amount | Original transaction, refund record and ledger |
Receipt belonging to another company | Not automatically the applicant’s turnover | Contracting entity, invoice issuer, account owner and intercompany records |
Do not guess.
An Excel description is useful, but it is not proof. Record each material receipt’s date, amount, payer, account owner, period, classification and evidence.
Principal or agent can change the answer
A business acting as principal may recognise the gross amount charged to the customer. An agent may recognise only its fee or commission. The answer depends on the contractual rights and obligations and the accounting standard that applied at the time—not merely which account received the cash.
Check who promised the service, set the price, carried refund risk, invoiced the customer and retained the economic benefit. Apply the accounting rules governing 2019, not a later rewrite.
Common ownership does not automatically combine separate companies. Each receipt still needs a legal entity and accounting treatment. Check scheme group rules as they stood on the application date.
Build a calendar-year bridge
Use a controlled sequence:
Obtain the original application and lender records where possible.
Export every relevant 2019 account and sales ledger.
De-duplicate internal transfers and payment-platform settlements.
Identify the legal owner and source of each material receipt.
Separate deposits, client money, financing, grants, refunds and connected-company payments.
Apply the correct timing and principal-agent treatment.
Reconcile the result to accounts, VAT returns and the Company Tax Return, explaining differences.
Unwildered can help compare an Excel bank export with uploaded invoices and flag unmatched entries. Treat that output as a working reconciliation: test revenue recognition, principal-agent treatment and tax consequences against the contracts and accounting records before using the total.
For example, a design agency’s accounts show £180,000 of credits, including £30,000 of internal transfers, £12,000 introduced by the director and £55,000 collected for suppliers. It may have earned commission on supplier money, but contracts and ledgers must show that. A balanced spreadsheet does not settle turnover.
The bank total was only the start.
Questions people are often embarrassed to ask
Can I just add every bank credit?
Usually not. Credits may include transfers, loans, deposits, refunds or money collected for somebody else. Each needs a source, owner, period and classification.
Can I include another company’s sales because I owned both?
Not automatically. Separate companies normally have separate revenue. Check the contracts, ownership structure and scheme group rules before including another company’s receipts.
My accountant filed the accounts. Is the application figure therefore safe?
No. Filed accounts may cover a different period, while the application may have used another source. Reconcile them.
What if the original application is missing?
Ask the lender for its copy and audit trail, then reconstruct the calendar-year figure independently. Distinguish documents, reasonable inferences and unresolved points.
How Unwildered can help
With Unwildered, you can upload Excel files, statements, invoices, contracts and accounting records. Caira can extract amounts, group records and turn gaps into a focused checking list. It cannot certify turnover or replace the original lender record. Verify every figure before using it.
This article is general information, not legal, financial, tax or medical advice.
