Business Expense Tracker

Who this is for

Every business cost on one running sheet. Each row takes the date, a category, the supplier, what it was for, the net and tax amounts and whether you have the receipt; the gross fills in and the period totals itself.

Sole traders and small businesses that hand a pile of receipts to an accountant, or do their own return, and want the pile already listed.

What this helps you track

• What the business spent in the period, net, tax and gross
• Which receipts you still have not got hold of
• Spend by category, once the rows are sorted or filtered in the workbook
• A list your accountant can work from instead of a shoebox

How to use it

1. Write the business, the period and the account the money came from at the top.
2. Enter each cost as it happens, from the receipt: date, category, supplier, description, and the net and tax amounts shown on it.
3. Tick the receipt column once the paper or PDF is filed. The summary counts the rows still unticked.
4. Let the browser or workbook total the columns; on paper, add them up at the foot when the page is full.
5. Start a new sheet for each month or quarter, whichever your return works in.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What counts as a business expense?

That is set by the tax rules where you are, not by this sheet. Record everything you think might qualify, with the receipt, and let your accountant or the guidance for your country decide what is claimable.

Why net and tax separately?

Because if you are registered for a sales tax you usually need the tax element on its own, and if you are not, the gross is what you spent. Recording both covers either case. If a receipt shows no tax, put the whole amount in net.

Can I record mileage here?

You can put fuel receipts here. Journeys and distance belong in the mileage and business travel log, which works out a claim from a rate you enter.

How long should I keep the receipts?

For as long as your tax authority can ask to see them, which differs by country. Keep the sheet with them, since it is the index to the pile.