How to add expenses from social media platforms ads in Accountable?

Got a tax question? We’ll answer for free by email.

Bitte gib eine gültige E-Mail-Adresse ein

Ask your question

You may be using social networks to advertise the sale of your products and/or services through paid ads. You incur these costs in order to generate or maintain your income, so they are business costs. As with all (or most) business expenses, you need an invoice or receipt to prove your expenses. We explain how to get proof for your advertising expenses on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

1) How to obtain proof of payment for advertisements?

Facebook ads and Instagram ads (Meta group)

As Facebook and Instagram are part of the Meta group, you have the possibility to download your invoices/receipts from the 2 social networks from Facebook (if your Instagram is linked to your Facebook account).

Here are the steps to follow to get a proof of payment on Facebook Ads Manager:

1. Go to the billing section of your Ad Manager.

2. In Transaction History, click on the date drop-down menu and select the date range for the receipt you want to download.

3. Find the transaction you want a receipt for and click the download icon under Action.

To download a receipt for all transactions or a billing report:

1. Go to the billing section of your Ad Manager.

2. In Transaction History, click on the date drop-down menu and select the date range for the receipts you want to download.

3. Click the Download drop-down menu and select one of the following options:Download All Transactions (PDF): Download a single receipt for all transactions. Download Report (PDF): Download the billing report as a PDF file.

If your Instagram account is not linked to your Facebook account, you can get a receipt directly on Instagram by following these steps:

1. In your Instagram profile, click on the 3 bars at the top right to access the Menu

2. Then click on "Orders & Payments" > "Payments & Promotions" > "Advertising Payments" > "Payment Methods" > "Payment Activity".

3. Select the transaction and click on "Download".

TikTok ads

To get an invoice from TikTok, follow these steps:

1. Log in to TikTok Ads Manager.

2. In the top right corner of your screen, click on your profile icon and select Payment.

3. In the left-hand column, click on Transactions.

4. Choose your transaction. You can sort your transactions by type and date.

5. Hover over the selected transaction and click on Download.

Pinterest ads

To upload your Pinterest bills, here are the steps to follow:

1. Once you are logged into your Pinterest business account, open the Ads drop-down menu and select Billing

2. Click on Billing History

3. To download receipts, click on receipt next to any item line.

4. In the Receipts section, you can click on each campaign to see the campaign's spend activity in the Ad Manager reports

More info: https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/view-billing-history-and-receipts

2) How do I add these costs to my expenses?

When you obtain proof of payment for social network advertising fees, you can add the invoices and/or receipts to the "Expenses" section of your mobile (or web) application, under the "Marketing>Advertising" category.

Make sure you pay attention to the following points:

• Is it an invoice or a receipt?

• Is there VAT or not? If so, at what rate? If not, is there a reference to an intra-community reverse-charge?

• Is there a local or European (or international) VAT number?

  Example: You have an invoice from Instagram in the name of the Meta Group. You are invoiced by Meta Platforms Ireland with an Irish VAT number (you would choose this flag 🇪🇺). There is no VAT on it (to the question "Is there VAT on this document?" you would choose "No").

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions (support@accountable.eu).

Author - Valesca Wilms

As content marketing lead at Accountable Belgium, Valesca writes about freelancing, self-employment, and taxes based on her own experience as a freelancer.

Who is Valesca ?