Printing, Postage, Stationery & Books: Codes 7500, 7501, 7502 & 7503

These four codes cover the small, steady costs of running a physical office — none individually large, but worth their own codes since they recur every month and add up over a year.

The codes, and what each one holds

Code 7500 — Printing records printing costs, from in-house toner and paper to outsourced print jobs.

Code 7501 — Postage and Carriage covers stamps, courier and postal charges for sending items out.

Code 7502 — Office Stationery covers pens, paper, folders and general office supplies.

Code 7503 — Books etc. covers reference books, manuals, or subscriptions to trade publications. All four are Overheads codes and normally carry a debit balance.

Real-world examples across industries

Publisher or training provider

A training provider commissions a print run of 2,000 course workbooks for £2,400 and separately buys £360 of reference books for its trainers' library — both zero-rated as genuine printed reading matter, so neither carries VAT: a debit of £2,400 to 7500 (Printing) and a credit of £2,400 to 2100 (Creditors Control Account); a debit of £360 to 7503 (Books etc.) and a credit of £360 to 2100. Sending the finished course packs out to delegates by courier is a different story — courier services are standard-rated, so a £180 despatch invoice (£150 net) is a debit of £150 to 7501 (Postage and Carriage), a debit of £30 to 2201 (Purchase Tax Control Account), and a credit of £180 to 2100.

E-commerce retailer

An online shop's biggest line by far is its courier account, shipping parcels to customers under a weekly-invoiced business contract — £960 (£800 net) is a debit of £800 to 7501, a debit of £160 to 2201, and a credit of £960 to 2100. Printed marketing flyers slipped into parcels come to £240 (£200 net) — standard-rated, unlike genuine printed matter, since they're designed to advertise rather than convey text-based information: a debit of £200 to 7500, a debit of £40 to 2201, and a credit of £240 to 2100. Back-office admin supplies for the warehouse office are a much smaller £96 (£80 net): a debit of £80 to 7502 (Office Stationery), a debit of £16 to 2201, and a credit of £96 to 2100.

Legal or accountancy practice

Paper-heavy compliance work — printed client files, court bundles, letterheads — means office stationery is a genuinely material monthly cost here: a £2,520 invoice (£2,100 net) is a debit of £2,100 to 7502, a debit of £420 to 2201, and a credit of £2,520 to 2100. The practice also buys £600 of printed technical reference textbooks for its library, zero-rated like any other book: a debit of £600 to 7503 and a credit of £600 to 2100. Postage is rare by comparison — the odd signed-for letter sent by Royal Mail, which is VAT-exempt: a £12 stamp cost is simply a debit of £12 to 7501 and a credit of £12 to bank, with nothing posted to 2201.

Why this matters day to day

Individually these are small amounts, but tracked over a full year they can reveal opportunities to save — switching print supplier, negotiating better courier rates, or simply noticing stationery spend creeping up without an obvious cause. Keeping them in dedicated codes rather than one vague "office costs" bucket makes that kind of year-on-year comparison actually possible.