Business Expense Tracker 2026 (Free)

What's inside

The workbook has four tabs, each doing one job so nothing bleeds into the wrong view.

• Transactions tab — one row per expense with Date, Vendor, Category (dropdown), Amount, Payment Method, Receipt link, and Notes. Every row feeds the Summary and Tax Prep tabs automatically.
• Categories tab — maps each category label to its IRS Schedule C line number so there is no guesswork at year-end. Advertising (line 8), Car & Truck (line 9), Office Expense (line 18), Meals (line 24b — 50% deductible), Professional Services (line 17), Supplies (line 22), Travel (line 24a), Utilities (line 25), and more.
• Summary tab — month-over-month totals by category. Spot the month you over-spent on software subscriptions before it becomes a year-end surprise.
• Tax-prep tab — deductible categories grouped by Schedule C section with running totals. Print this tab and hand it to your accountant or transfer the numbers directly to your return.

How to use it

1. Capture amount and date first. Log each expense the day it happens. The date matters for cash-basis bookkeeping: the deduction applies in the tax year the money left your account, not when you invoiced the client.
2. Reconcile monthly. At the end of each month, compare the Transactions tab against your bank or credit card statement. Flag anything missing, then review the Summary tab — twelve months of clean data is worth more than a rushed year-end scramble.
3. Export categories at year-end. Copy the Tax Prep tab totals into your Schedule C. Keep receipts for 3 years (7 years if you're claiming a loss). For vehicle costs, track miles separately in our mileage log template — the IRS requires a contemporaneous log, not a reconstruction.

Schedule C category mapping

The Categories tab pre-loads these Schedule C lines. If your accountant uses different labels, rename the dropdown values in the Categories tab — formulas follow the cell references, not the text strings.

• Advertising — line 8
• Car & Truck — line 9 (use actual expenses or standard mileage; see mileage log template for the per-mile log the IRS requires)
• Office Expense — line 18
• Meals — line 24b, 50% deductible (the temporary 100% COVID rule expired; standard 50% applies)
• Professional Services — line 17 (legal, accounting, consulting fees)
• Supplies — line 22
• Travel — line 24a (airfare, lodging, ground transport; not commuting)
• Utilities — line 25 (business phone, internet allocated to business use)

Customize with AI

Need a formula that flags expenses over $500, calculates the 50% meals cap automatically, or splits a shared utility bill by business-use percentage? Build it with the DropFile Formula Generator. Describe the rule in plain English and paste the result into the workbook — no formula syntax knowledge required. For reimbursement workflows, the expense report template covers client-billable expenses with a separate approval column.