Expense records for freelancers whose costs are mostly invisible
A tradie can see the deduction: it is sitting in the back of the ute. A freelancer's costs are a subscription that renewed at 3am, a percentage of an internet bill, a monitor bought eighteen months ago, and a coffee with a client. None of them leave a pile of paper, and all of them belong in your records. HeyJerni catches them on your iPhone, with no bank linking and no subscription of its own.
Where freelancers lose deductions
- Subscriptions renew silently. Design tools, hosting, a stock library, an AI plan. Charged monthly, noticed annually, recorded never.
- Home office is a percentage, not a receipt. The internet bill and the power bill are legitimate to record in part, but only if you wrote down which part and why.
- Client costs get absorbed. The coffee, the parking at their office, the domain you bought on their behalf and never invoiced.
- Income is lumpy, so tracking is too. Two busy months, one quiet one, and the quiet month is when you were going to catch up on paperwork.
How HeyJerni fits a freelance week
1
Let the card purchases log themselves
A one-time Shortcuts automation records every Apple Pay purchase with the merchant and amount. The client coffee and the parking stop escaping.
2
Scan the receipts that arrive by email
Save an emailed invoice or receipt as an image and scan it from your photo library. It becomes a record with the image attached, like a paper one.
3
Set the work-use share once per merchant
Your internet, your phone, the software you also use personally. Set a percentage and HeyJerni remembers the merchant, so the next bill arrives already split.
4
Ask instead of building a spreadsheet
Ask what you spent on software this financial year and get an answer computed from your own records, on the phone.
Costs freelancers commonly keep records for
Common business expenses for people working for themselves, drawn from ATO guidance. Each needs a record showing the supplier, the amount, what it was and the date, plus the work-use share where it is not entirely business. Whether an expense is deductible for you depends on your circumstances; the ATO and a registered tax agent are the sources.
- Software subscriptions and cloud services used for work
- Home office running costs, the work-use share
- Phone and internet, the work-use share
- Computers, monitors, cameras and other equipment, including depreciation on larger items
- Professional memberships, courses and training related to your current work
- Advertising, website hosting and domain costs
- Accounting, legal and insurance fees
- Travel and parking for client work, excluding the ordinary commute
HeyJerni is a record-keeping tool, not tax advice.
A two-minute Friday routine
- 1Open Records and tap Unreviewed.
- 2Confirm purpose and work use on the week's purchases. Recurring merchants are usually one tap.
- 3Save any emailed receipts as images and scan them.
- 4At 30 June, run Record Check and export the pack for your agent.
What HeyJerni does not do
- Invoicing, quotes or chasing payment. That is your invoicing tool's job.
- Income tracking, GST or BAS. HeyJerni is the expense side only.
- Bank linking. By design; the records stay on the phone.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need accounting software as a freelancer?
For expense records, not necessarily, especially if you are not registered for GST. You do need invoicing if you bill clients, and HeyJerni does not do that. Many freelancers use an invoicing tool for income and HeyJerni for the expense and receipt side.
How do I handle a subscription I use for both work and personal?
Record it as mixed with a work-use percentage rather than forcing it into one bucket. Base the percentage on something you can explain, and keep the reasoning consistent.
What about home office costs?
HeyJerni stores the expense and the work-use percentage you set. It does not calculate a home office method or decide which one applies to you; that is a question for the current ATO guidance or your tax agent.
Can it track income too?
No. It is deliberately the expense side. Income and invoicing belong in whatever tool you already bill from.
I work from cafes and coworking spaces. Does it work offline?
Yes. The AI runs on the phone, so scanning and questions work with no connection at all.
What does my accountant receive?
A financial-year PDF summary, a CSV of every expense with purpose and work use, and the receipt images. No app or account needed on their side.
Start with this month's subscriptions
Download HeyJerni, scan one receipt or set up auto-log, and let the invisible costs start showing up in your records.