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The Partners template is the working paper where you record the partners in an unincorporated partnership, the dates they joined or left, and how the year's profit or loss is shared between them. It only appears for entities set up with legal form partnership, and it is auto-hidden for everything else, including sole traders and LLPs. It is also the source record that other partner-related working papers and notes read from, so get the partner list and profit split right here first.

Table of contents 

When should I use this template?

  • Use it for any unincorporated trading partnership working-paper file. It is not used for sole traders, because there are no partners to allocate profit between, and it is not used for LLPs, because LLP members are reported under the LLP SORP rather than the general partnership treatment this template assumes.
  • The template is hidden automatically unless the client's legal form is set to "partnership", either at company level or on the [Unincorporated] General settings - Partnership template.

Before you start

  • Add the unincorporated Working Papers workflow and confirm the legal form is set correctly in [Unincorporated] General settings - Partnership.
  • Complete the [Unincorporated] Profit and loss account reconciliation first if you intend to use the "%", "Equally split" or "Varying profit split" options. The template pulls the current year's profit or loss figure from there to check your allocation reconciles to it.
  • Check whether any of the trial balance accounts 320200 to 320221 (the "share of profit" range) already carry postings. If the bookkeeping has already allocated profit to partners, the template will default to and recommend the "Mapped" option instead of asking you to split it again.

Background: how partnership profit-sharing works

The standard partnership accounting model splits each partner's capital into two records: a capital account, which normally stays fixed (partners' original and further capital contributions), and a current account, which absorbs each year's profit share, any salary or interest on capital, less drawings. This is exactly the salary / interest on capital / other prior shares / residual split sequence this template asks you to complete.

How the residual profit or loss is actually divided between partners is a matter for the partnership agreement. The template gives you several ways to reflect whatever ratio or method the partners have agreed (percentage, equal split, a fixed value, or a variable in-year split), or to pick up a split that bookkeeping has already posted.

Step 1: Choose how profit is allocated

At the top of the table is a dropdown: "Please select how the profit/loss is allocated for each partner", with these options:

  • %: you enter each partner's profit-share percentage directly.
  • Equally split: the template automatically divides 100% by the number of active partners, so no input is needed.
  • Value: you enter each partner's profit share as a cash amount rather than a percentage.
  • Mapped: use this when the bookkeeping has already posted the profit split to the trial balance (accounts 320200 to 320221). The template then shows no salary, interest or split columns, because there is nothing left to allocate here.
  • Varying profit split: use this when partners' shares change during the year, so a single annual percentage or value would not reflect the agreed allocation accurately (see Step 3).

The dropdown defaults to "Mapped" automatically if any of accounts 320200 to 320221 already carry a non-zero balance; otherwise it defaults to "%". A hover info-text explains the options. If there are balances on the 320200 to 320221 range but you have not selected "Mapped", a warning is shown: "Profit allocation may have already been posted. If so, please use the mapped version."

Step 2: Enter each partner's row

The partner list is the same list used across all the partner working papers. Enter each partner once here, in the order you want them to appear everywhere else. For each partner (unless "Mapped" is selected):

  • Partner name: free text.
  • Salary: a fixed partner salary charged before the residual profit split (currency).
  • Interest on capital: interest credited on capital before the residual split (currency).
  • Other prior shares: any other prior appropriation before the residual split (currency).
  • The profit/loss split column itself, which changes with the option chosen in Step 1:
    • %: type the partner's percentage directly (8 decimal places allowed, for precision, see the rounding warning below).
    • Equally split: calculated automatically, no entry.
    • Value: type the partner's cash share. The template also shows a running Total column (salary + interest + other prior shares + value) per partner.
    • Varying profit split: filled in automatically from the sub-table in Step 3.
  • Appointed and Resigned: the partner's start and end dates for the year (Appointed is required). A partner whose end date falls before the start of the current year is treated as no longer active, and its allocation cells are left blank.

Totals at the foot of the table add up salary, interest, other prior shares and the profit split. For percentage-based methods, if the percentages do not sum to 100% an unreconciled indicator appears with the explanation "Sum of profit percentages is different from 100%". For the Value method, the template compares total salary + interest + other prior shares + value against the profit or loss figure from the P&L reconciliation, and flags any difference as unreconciled.

A separate rounding warning can appear for the %, Equally split and Varying profit split methods: if the percentages entered are precise enough to sum to 100% but still do not multiply out to the exact profit or loss figure from the P&L (a rounding artefact), the template shows a warning asking you to add more decimal places, linking to the P&L reconciliation and to the recalculated figure on the Profit allocation note.

Step 3: Set up a varying profit split

The "Varying profit split" option is available for all unincorporated partnerships. Use it when one or more partners' shares change part-way through the year, for example when a partner joins or leaves, changes their working arrangements, or moves onto different profit-sharing terms, so a single annual percentage or value would not be precise enough.

Selecting it reveals a second dropdown, % or Units, and a supplementary table below the main partner table. In this table you break the year into consecutive date ranges: the first row runs from the year start to an end date you enter, and each subsequent row runs from the previous row's end date to a new end date you enter, until you reach the year end. For each partner, enter their share of profit for that specific sub-period, either as a percentage or as a number of units. The template time-weights each sub-period by the number of days it covers to calculate each partner's overall percentage share for the year, which then feeds back into the main table as that partner's "Varying profit split" figure.

Validation on this sub-table: a warning appears against any row where the end date entered is later than the period's year end, and, for the percentage method, if a sub-period's percentages do not sum to 100%. With five or more partners the table automatically switches the page to landscape orientation so all the partner columns fit.

Step 4: Additional information

An optional "Additional information" area lets you add free-text notes and attach supporting files, for example a copy of the partnership agreement or a profit-split calculation. This section only appears once you have added an entry or an attachment.

What flows through to the rest of the accounts / workflow?

  • The partner names, appointed and resigned dates and per-partner custom data entered here are held against the underlying person record for the period, so every other partner working paper that lists the same partners picks up the same list, in the same order, automatically. That covers Partner current accounts, Partner capital accounts, Partner additional capital accounts and Partner land and property accounts.
  • The profit-split method and each partner's resulting percentage (or value) drive the share-of-profit/loss calculation partner current accounts use to allocate the year's profit or loss, including a pro-rated adjustment for partners who joined or left partway through the year.
  • That same allocation feeds Partners - Taxable profit allocation, where each partner's share of profit is apportioned for tax purposes.
  • The salary, interest on capital and other prior shares entered here are the appropriation items that post into the partner current account roll-forward and, ultimately, the accounts notes for the capital and current accounts.

What rolls forward next year?

  • The partner list itself persists year to year as part of the underlying person records, so there is no need to re-enter continuing partners.
  • Each partner's current-year profit percentage becomes next year's comparative ("last year") percentage column.
  • The profit-split method dropdown and the mapped-accounts check are re-evaluated each year rather than rolled forward as a fixed choice. If postings appear on the 320200 to 320221 range, "Mapped" will again be suggested regardless of what was used last year.

Where the data comes from

  • Trial balance: accounts 320200 to 320221 are checked for existing postings, purely to decide the default profit-split option and to trigger the "may already be posted" warning.
  • [Unincorporated] Profit and loss account reconciliation: supplies the current year's profit or loss figure used to check the % / Equally split / Varying profit split allocation reconciles, and to compute the Value-method difference.
  • [Unincorporated] General settings - Partnership reconciliation: supplies the partnership workflow setting (old code vs new code) and the rounding configuration.
  • Everything else, including partner names, dates, salary, interest and splits, is entered directly in this template.

Frequently asked questions

Why has "Mapped" been selected automatically, and why can't I change the split myself?

The template detected postings on the trial balance's share-of-profit accounts (320200 to 320221), so it assumes the bookkeeping has already allocated profit between partners and defaults to (and recommends) "Mapped" so you are not double-allocating. You can still change the dropdown if that is wrong.

Why is my percentage column showing an unreconciled indicator?

The percentages you have entered for the partners do not sum to 100%. Check each partner's row, including any partners who left partway through the year.

Why does the template say there's insufficient precision to fully allocate the profit or loss?

Your percentages sum to 100% but, once multiplied by the actual profit or loss figure, still leave a small rounding difference against the P&L. Add more decimal places to one or more partners' percentages to resolve it.

When should I use the "Varying profit split" option?

Use it when the partners' agreed shares change during the year and a single annual percentage or value would not represent the allocation accurately. It is available for all unincorporated partnerships.

This article relates to the Partners template in the UK Working Papers workflow. It is provided as guidance and does not constitute advice.

For an overview of how the Partners template fits into the wider unincorporated package, see How do I use the Unincorporated (Sole Traders/Partnerships) Production Package? (UK market).