Queens Park Rangers are set to avoid a crippling fine from the Football League that relates to the club exceeding financial fair play rules in 2013-14, with the punishment expected to be around a more manageable £8m.

The Championship club’s figures for the period in question, which was their promotion season back into the Premier League, showed losses of £9.8m, although the chairman, Tony Fernandes, and the other shareholders wrote off a further £60m in loans. The manner in which they did so raised questions and they have been at the heart of the FFP discussions between the club and the Football League.

For QPR the worst-case scenario was that the League did not accept the write-off and applied a fine based on them losing around £70m. The fine would have been one of more than £50m but discussions have been positive from the club’s point of view and they now expect to be docked around £8m.

QPR have made a similar sum this summer following Raheem Sterling’s £49m move from Liverpool to Manchester City. Sterling began his career at QPR and when he left for Liverpool – in a deal initially worth £600,000 but potentially rising to £5m – the club negotiated a 20% sell-on clause that related to the profits from any subsequent sale.

The details of how many of the add-ons Sterling triggered have not been made public but it is understood QPR received £8.8m after his transfer to City.

QPR recorded losses of £65.4m in 2012-13 but they were able to show they reduced their expenditure in 2013-14 by £22m.

Fernandes has argued the FFP rules were unfair on QPR, in that it was impossible for them to bring down their overheads to the required levels after their relegation from the Premier League in 2013.

The squad have undergone radical surgery after their relegation to the Championship, with a number of high-earning players removed from the payroll. The director of football, Les Ferdinand, has overseen new signings but has refused to pay wages of more than £20,000 a week.