Self Employed Expense and Deduction Tracker, Google Sheets and Excel

What you get

Seven connected sheets, built in Excel and made to import into Google Sheets:

• Start Here - Instructions, the color key, the import steps, and the license.
• Setup - Business name, year, and mileage rate; the rest of the workbook reads these.
• Categories - 17 expense categories plus 5 blank lines to add your own.
• Expenses - 500 rows: date, payee, category, amount, method, receipt reference, and a business use percentage, with the business portion calculated.
• Mileage - 300 rows. Type the miles; the rate and amount calculate from Setup.
• Category Summary - Every category by quarter and year, with an Uncategorized line that catches what a category missed.
• Receipt Checklist - Every expense missing a receipt, counted and totaled by month.

You type each expense in, or paste a batch from a downloaded statement. Formulas fill in the business portion, the quarterly totals, and the receipt counts: 1,295 of them, none typed in. They use only functions that behave the same in Excel 2016 and later and in Google Sheets.

Who it is for

A self employed person, freelancer, or single owner business that wants expenses recorded as they happen, not rebuilt from memory once a year. It suits up to a few hundred expense entries a year.

We also sell a Small Business Bookkeeping Spreadsheet covering income, expenses, and a profit and loss, at 29 dollars; that is the right buy if you want both sides of your books in one file. This tracker is the expense side only, at a lower price, for someone who wants the record done properly without keeping full books: a business use percentage per line, a receipt checklist, and a quarter by quarter view your accountant can read directly.

It is not built for a business running payroll, or one that values stock at year end. If either is you, this is the wrong tool.

What it is not

This is not accounting software. It does not connect to a bank or a card, does not pull in statements, and reconciles nothing.

It does not track income or build a profit and loss; the paragraph above names the product that does. It calculates no tax, prepares no return, and does not tell you what you may claim. The category list is yours to edit for that reason: a place to record what your accountant tells you is deductible, not a list of what qualifies.

It stores no receipts; the reference column holds your own number to find the paper later.

It is two files: a spreadsheet and a guide. Nothing runs, updates itself, or is hosted anywhere.

Refunds

Refunds within 30 days, for any reason. Reply to your receipt and the payment goes back in full. You keep the files; there is nothing to return.