A printable 12-month income & expense tracker, in the categories of Schedule C

31 pages to print and fill in by hand, in A4 and US Letter, plus a spreadsheet that adds itself up. Every category is worded as it is on IRS Schedule C (Form 1040) 2025.

Who it is for

US freelancers, sole proprietors and single-member LLCs who do their own books.
People who would rather write each payment down on paper than keep another app or subscription going.
Anyone who wants the year's totals already sorted by Schedule C line when tax time comes.

What you get

The tracker as a 31-page PDF, in two paper sizes: one file for A4, one for US Letter. Print it at home.
Page 1, a cover and how-to: business name, tax year, accounting method (cash / accrual), and five steps for using it.
Page 2, "Which line does it go on?": every category used in the tracker, in the IRS's words, with a short example of what belongs on each line - each example is a sentence quoted from the IRS's own instructions for that line, checked against them every time the pack is built, not just written to sound right.
Two pages for each of 12 months: an income log (date, client or source, invoice #, description, line, amount, with boxes for the line 1, 2 and 6 totals) and an expense log (date, paid to, what for, line, amount, a receipt tick box, a month total and a line key at the foot).
A quarter totals page after every third month: copy each month's line totals across and get the quarter's profit or loss so far.
A year summary: the four quarters added up by Schedule C line, down to line 28 (total expenses) and line 29 (tentative profit or loss), with a box for line 30.
A spreadsheet (.xlsx): type payments on the Income and Expenses sheets and pick the Schedule C line from a drop-down. The Summary sheet totals every line by month and for the year, and counts any row it could not include (an amount with no line, or a date outside the tax year), so nothing goes missing from a total without you seeing it.

The pages are undated ("Month ____ Year ____"), so you can start in any month, of any year.

The actual pages

These are images of the real pages, not mock-ups.

Page 1: cover with business name, tax year, accounting method and five how-to steps — Page 1: cover and how to use it

Page 2: which line does it go on, listing Schedule C lines with examples — Page 2: which line does it go on?

Monthly income log with columns for date, client, invoice number, description, line and amount — Monthly income log

Monthly expense log with receipt tick boxes and a Schedule C line key — Monthly expense log

Quarter 1 totals page, by Schedule C line, month 1 to 3 — Quarter totals

Year summary page, Q1 to Q4 and year totals by Schedule C line — Year summary

The lines it tracks

Worded exactly as on Schedule C (Form 1040) 2025:

1	Gross receipts or sales
2	Returns and allowances
6	Other income, including federal and state gasoline or fuel tax credit or refund
8	Advertising
9	Car and truck expenses
10	Commissions and fees
11	Contract labor
13	Depreciation and section 179 expense deduction (not included in Part III)
15	Insurance (other than health)
16b	Interest: Other
17	Legal and professional services
18	Office expense
20a	Rent or lease: Vehicles, machinery, and equipment
20b	Rent or lease: Other business property
21	Repairs and maintenance
22	Supplies (not included in Part III)
23	Taxes and licenses
24a	Travel and meals: Travel
24b	Travel and meals: Deductible meals
25	Utilities
27b	Other expenses (from line 48)

Left off, and named on page 2 so you know: line 12 Depletion; line 14 Employee benefit programs; line 16a Interest: Mortgage; line 19 Pension and profit-sharing plans; line 26 Wages; line 27a Energy efficient commercial bldgs deduction. Line 30 (business use of your home) is worked out once a year, so it gets a box on the year summary rather than a column.

$7 one-off

Both PDFs and the spreadsheet, to download and keep. No account, no subscription.

Buy the tracker

Checkout is handled by Payhip.

Questions

Why not just use a spreadsheet?

Honestly, a spreadsheet is free, and plenty of freelancers already have one that works. If you add up your year's transactions and copy the totals onto Schedule C without trouble, you do not need this.

What this saves is the setup and the second-guessing: the categories already use the form's own wording and line numbers, the spreadsheet already totals each line by month and for the year, and it flags any row that did not make it into a total. And if you would rather keep your books on paper, you get the printed version too, in your paper size, with monthly, quarterly and yearly pages that follow the same lines.

Which country is this for?

The United States only. The categories come from IRS Schedule C (Form 1040), which is what US sole proprietors and single-member LLCs file. The A4 version is there for people who print on A4, not for another country's tax return.

Which tax year does it follow?

The line numbers and category names are taken from the 2025 Schedule C, the latest form published, and every page says so. The pages themselves are undated. Check the current form and its instructions before you file, as the IRS can renumber lines between years.

Is this tax advice?

No. It is a record-keeping tool that uses the Schedule C categories. It does not file anything, and it does not tell you what you can deduct. If you are unsure where an expense belongs, ask a tax professional.

What does the spreadsheet open in?

It is a standard .xlsx file. It has been opened and recalculated in LibreOffice Calc. [OWNER: confirm it opens and adds up in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets before this answer names them]

What if it is not for me?

[OWNER: refund policy]

You can also try one page first for free (below) before you buy.

Free sample page

One month's expense log from the tracker, with the full Schedule C line key, in A4 and US Letter. Free, print it and use it.

Free sample: one month's expense log with Schedule C line key — The free sample page

Download the free sample page: US Letter (PDF) or A4 (PDF). No email, no sign-up.