P.R. (Literature & Brochures)

This Direct Expenses code records costs directly tied to producing sales, relating to p.r. (literature and brochures). As an expense account, it normally carries a debit balance: debit entries increase the balance and credit entries decrease it.

Real-world examples

Printed catalogues and brochures

A product company has 5,000 glossy catalogues printed by a commercial printer. Printed matter like brochures, catalogues and leaflets is zero-rated for VAT under UK law, so a £1,500 invoice carries no VAT at all: the full £1,500 is a debit to 6203 (P.R. (Literature & Brochures)) and a credit of £1,500 to 2100 (Creditors Control Account) — nothing goes to 2201, because there's no VAT to reclaim on print that was never charged.

PR agency services

A business retains a PR agency for media relations and content support. Because this is a professional service rather than physical print, it's standard-rated: a £1,200 invoice (£1,000 net) is a debit of £1,000 to 6203, a debit of £200 to 2201, and a credit of £1,200 to 2100. The same nominal code ends up holding both zero-rated print costs and standard-rated service fees, which is exactly why the VAT figures for this code can look inconsistent from one invoice to the next unless each supplier's rate is checked individually.

Commonly confused with

Because code 6202 (Gifts and Samples) sits right next to this one in Direct Expenses, it's a common mis-posting target. Code 6203 is specifically for p.r. (literature & brochures), while 6202 covers gifts and samples — similar in nature, but keeping them separate is what makes the direct expenses section of your management accounts meaningful rather than a single lumped total.

What a mis-posting here costs you

Posting to the wrong cost code here won't change total cost of sales, but it will distort gross margin analysis by category, making it harder to see which input costs are actually rising.

Other codes in Direct Expenses