Expense records for freelancers whose costs are mostly invisible

Where freelancers lose the records

• 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 may be relevant to your work-expense records 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. 1

   Let the card purchases log themselves

   A one-time Shortcuts automation records every tap-to-pay purchase with the merchant and amount. The client coffee and the parking stop escaping.

2. 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. 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. 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

Frequently asked questions