Guides › Self-Employed Expense Tracker in Excel (UK): What to Record · Updated 26-10-2026

Self-employed expense tracker in Excel: a practical guide for UK sole traders

If you're self-employed in the UK, every allowable expense you forget to record is money you pay tax on for no reason. You don't need expensive software to avoid that. A simple expense tracker in Excel or Google Sheets, updated once a month, is enough for most sole traders. Here's what to record, how to set the columns up, and a few formulas that do the maths for you.

This is general information, not tax advice. Rules and rates change; check GOV.UK or an accountant for your situation.

The columns your expense tracker needs

Splitting part-business costs

HMRC only lets you claim the business part of mixed costs such as your mobile phone, broadband or a car you also use privately. Put a reasonable, defensible percentage in the Business use column and let the sheet calculate:

=D2*E2

Write down how you arrived at the percentage (for example, a typical week of usage) in a note. If you're ever asked, you have the answer.

Mileage: the simplified option

Instead of tracking every fuel and repair cost, many sole traders use simplified expenses for vehicles: a flat rate per business mile (45p for the first 10,000 miles in a tax year for cars and vans, 25p after that, at the time of writing). Add a small mileage log with date, journey and miles, then calculate the claim with one formula. With total business miles for the year in B2:

=MIN(B2,10000)*0.45 + MAX(B2-10000,0)*0.25

Once you choose simplified expenses for a vehicle, you generally have to stick with that method for that vehicle, so decide deliberately.

If you're VAT registered

Only VAT-registered businesses can reclaim VAT on purchases. If you are, add a column for the VAT part. For a standard-rated receipt where you only know the gross amount (20% VAT):

=D2/6

That's the same as gross × 20/120. If you're not VAT registered, skip this column entirely and record the full gross amount as your expense.

The trading allowance check

If your expenses are small, the £1,000 trading allowance may beat claiming actual costs. Add a two-cell comparison on your summary tab: total allowable expenses in one cell, 1,000 in the other, and use whichever is higher. You can't use both against the same income.

Keeping records HMRC is happy with

• Keep receipts and records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline of the tax year they relate to.
• Photos or scans are fine. Name them consistently, e.g. 2026-10-14_Supplier_42.50.jpg, and store them in a folder per month.
• Reconcile once a month against your business bank account. It takes 15 minutes and saves a stressful January.
• If you fall under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you'll need software that submits quarterly updates. Many spreadsheet users connect their sheet through bridging software.

A quick summary formula per category

On a summary tab, list your categories in column A and total the allowable amounts for the tax year (start date in B1, end date in C1):

=SUMIFS(Expenses!F:F, Expenses!C:C, A4, Expenses!A:A, ">="&$B$1, Expenses!A:A, "<="&$C$1)

Those totals map straight onto your Self Assessment.

Prefer a ready-made version?

Our Freelancer Bookkeeping Tracker includes a pound (£) edition with expense categories, business-use %, reclaimable VAT per receipt, a quarterly tax summary and a dashboard, alongside an income log that flags overdue invoices. It works in Excel and Google Sheets for a one-time €14, with no subscription.