A Work Expense Tracker for People Who Use One Card for Everything
Almost nobody carries a separate work card. The laptop, the coffee, the parking, the phone bill and the groceries all land on the same statement, and in July somebody has to pull them apart. HeyJerni does the pulling apart at the time of purchase instead: every expense carries a purpose, mixed expenses carry a percentage, and the receipt stays attached to both.
Free on the App Store. Works for employees and sole traders alike.
Why a category is not enough
Every expense app can tell you that you spent money at a hardware store. Almost none of them can tell you whether the drill was for a job or for the shed, and that is the only distinction that matters to a work expense record.
The same goes for the things that are genuinely both. A phone bill is not a work expense or a personal one; it is some share of each. Recording it as one or the other is wrong in a way that a percentage is not.
So HeyJerni records two things a category cannot: what the purchase was for, and how much of it was for work.
How the split is recorded
Purpose on every expense
Work, personal, or mixed. Set at the time, when you still know the answer, rather than reconstructed from a statement months later.
A work-use percentage on mixed ones
The phone, the internet, the car park that was half a client visit. A percentage is a truer record than forcing it into one bucket.
Merchant memory does the rest
Once you have sorted a merchant, later purchases there arrive already categorised. Review becomes a tap instead of a form.
A two-minute weekly routine
This is the whole system. It survives contact with a busy week because it is short.
1
Open the unreviewed list
Auto-logged Apple Pay purchases and scanned receipts land here waiting for a decision. Most of them already have a category from merchant memory.
2
Confirm purpose and work use
Work, personal, or mixed with a percentage. Most take one tap because the merchant is one you have sorted before.
3
Scan anything still on paper
The receipts still in the ute, the wallet or the bag. Photograph the stack in one pass rather than one at a time.
4
Leave it until next week
That is it. Record Check will tell you at 30 June if anything slipped through, while you can still do something about it.
Working out a work-use share
Percentages should come from something, not from a feeling. A phone bill split by work calls, an internet connection split by hours, a tool split by jobs versus home use.
The work-use calculator does the arithmetic and shows what the work portion of an amount comes to. It is a record-keeping aid rather than a ruling on what you can claim.
What tends to get missed
Common work-related expenses that people forget to record because each one is small. Whether any of them is deductible for you depends on your work and circumstances.
- Tools, equipment and small consumables bought mid-job
- Phone and internet, the work-use share of each bill
- Software and professional subscriptions renewing quietly
- Protective gear, uniforms and their laundry
- Training, courses and licence renewals related to current work
- Parking and tolls on trips between work sites
This is a prompt for your own records, not a list of deductions. Eligibility depends on your circumstances and current ATO rules; the ATO occupation guides and a registered tax agent are the sources.
Useful whether you are
- An employee with work-related expenses to record
- A sole trader running on an ABN without a bookkeeper
- A tradie buying materials during the day
- A freelancer with software and home office costs
- Anyone using one card for work and life
Not the right tool for
- Submitting expense claims to an employer for reimbursement
- GST, BAS or invoicing
- Car logbooks and cents-per-kilometre records
- Approving other people’s spending
Frequently asked questions
How do I separate work and personal on one card?
Give each expense a purpose: work, personal, or mixed with a work-use percentage. HeyJerni remembers what you chose for each merchant, so recurring purchases sort themselves.
What is a work-use percentage for?
It records how much of a mixed expense relates to work. A phone bill used partly for work is normally recorded as a share rather than as a whole work expense.
How do I decide the percentage?
From something you can explain: hours, calls, jobs, a representative period. HeyJerni stores the number you decide; it does not decide it for you, and it is not tax advice.
Does it work for employees, not just businesses?
Yes. Employees with work-related expenses need the same records: what it was, when, how much, and the work-use share.
Can I change the purpose later?
Yes. Expenses can be edited, and Record Check surfaces the ones still missing a purpose or a receipt before you lodge.
Does it handle expense reports for my employer?
No. HeyJerni is for your own records. Reimbursement claims belong in whatever system your employer uses.
Related pages
Australian references
HeyJerni is a record-keeping tool, not tax advice.
Sort this week, not the whole year
Download HeyJerni, mark a few purchases as work or personal, and let merchant memory take over from there.