Top 3 FREE Independent Contractor Expenses Spreadsheet Template [Google Sheets]

Google Sheets is a powerful tool for freelancers and independent contractors. It helps them keep track of the tasks done, expenses, invoices, and so on. The software is built to improve their productivity and profits over time.

Organizing and tracking expenses is crucial for self-employed people.

Accounting is the biggest headache for most beginners. So, you are not alone if you are searching for a 1099 Google Sheets template.

A 1099 Form is used to report payments to independent contractors. Simply put, it reports non-employment profits and losses to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).

In this article, let us discuss the top 3 FREE independent contractor expenses spreadsheet templates. We will also learn to create a template from scratch, so make sure to read the article till the end.

An independent contractor expenses spreadsheet helps users boost their profits and reduce tax liability.

Why are Independent Contractor Expenses Templates created using Google Sheets must-try?

Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program that boasts plenty of tools to organize and analyze datasets.

It allows you to put your expenses in a table, sort and filter them, calculate monthly or annual spending and earnings using built-in formulas, and more.

Here are a few of the benefits:

Budget-friendly – Google Sheets is a free-to-use program for individuals. You only need a free Google account to access Google products such as sheets, docs, slides, keep, and more.
Ease of Use – This spreadsheet program is easy to use and has an intuitive user interface for beginners. You can view and edit the spreadsheet without any prior experience. It is pretty straightforward.
Accessibility – Users can access a Google Sheet from anywhere in the world, as long as they have an internet connection. It works smoothly on both mobile and desktop devices.
Collaboration – Google Sheets is the best spreadsheet program out there for team collaboration. Owners can share it with unlimited users and assign specific roles to each. Depending upon the role assigned to the users, they can view, edit, or comment. It comes with real-time collaboration capabilities.
Powerful Reporting – You can use built-in functions, charts, and formatting features to prepare attractive reports. There are hundreds of functions (formulas) in Google Sheets to help you create comprehensive reports for making informed decisions.

Besides the above, Google Sheets offers extensive customization and has a short learning curve.

Whether you are a beginner or an expert at Google Sheets, you won’t face any difficulties while adding new features to your Independent Contractor Expenses Spreadsheet template.

What is an Independent Contractor Expenses spreadsheet?

An independent contractor expenses spreadsheet is designed to help you with the money spent on running your business. It includes equipment, transportation, and other costs.

It lets users categorize their expenses for easy tax calculations.

As an Independent Contractor, you are a self-employed person who must manage finances and file taxes by properly tracking all the expenses.

You can track and organize the total amount spent on each category. It leads to making informed decisions to save money and minimize tax liability over time.

Top 3 Independent Contractor Expenses Spreadsheet Templates

1. Self-employed Expenses Spreadsheet by SoftwareAccountant

Independent Contractor Expenses Spreadsheet (Google Sheets) by SoftwareAccountant

Click Here to Use This Template!

It is the best FREE spreadsheet to track your expenses over a month or year. You can download and use it without any limitations.

The template is perfect for both beginners and expert independent contractors.

SoftwareAccountant aims to provide you with an easy-to-use spreadsheet to categorize your expenses and summarize them to have a bird’s eye view of the total amount spent.

The template is divided into two spreadsheets:

Report – This spreadsheet is a summary of your expenses over time. It is the main spreadsheet of the template, which uses various formulas to calculate your expenses with respect to the Schedule C Category. At the top of the table, you will find Total Tax Deduction. Note that most of the data in this spreadsheet is pre-entered or calculated using the built-in formulas. Only enter the values in the Business-use % column.
Expenses – As the name suggests, you are supposed to enter all your expenses in this spreadsheet. You can add details such as Date, Merchant Name, Expense Type, Schedule C Category, and the amount. It uses a dropdown for the Schedule C Category column. To edit the dropdown, simply scroll down to the end of the dropdown list and click on the Pencil icon.

This is an all-in-one solution for all the independent contractors out there. It is pretty straightforward.

Various formulas and dropdowns used in this template are meant to save you time. But note that you should avoid editing the cells that hold a formula, or the template will stop functioning as described above.

2. Independent Contractor Expenses Template by Spreadsheetpoint

Click Here to Use This Template!

This is another spreadsheet template for tracking expenses and filing taxes.

Users can categorize their expenses according to the Schedule C Categories pre-defined within the template.

The template is divided into two spreadsheets, as discussed below,

Summary – It summarizes all of your time in a table as per the Schedule C Categories. The spreadsheet is fully automated, and you don’t need to enter any information except the values in the % Business Use column. It automatically calculates the Tax deductions using built-in formulas.
Expenses – In this spreadsheet, you will record all of your expenses over time with details such as Merchant Name, Schedule C Category, Date, Expense Type, Actual Expense Amount, etc. It is pretty straightforward. You need to start by selecting the date followed by the Schedule C Category and then the details of the expense.

It is available for free. The template is mainly focused on helping users with filing Form 1099. It includes filing Form 1040 (Schedule C), which reports your profit and loss.

3. Independent Contractor Expenses Spreadsheet by Keeper Tax

Click Here to Use This Template!

This is our last choice on this list. It is similar to the two templates discussed above.

The Keeper Tax’s 1099 Google Sheets Template is designed for independent contractors to make tax filing less painful.

Here are the three main spreadsheets of this template:

Schedule C Expense Categories – You can have a quick look at all the expenses that are categorized as per Schedule C (Form 1040). You are not supposed to edit any of the columns of this spreadsheet except the values in the Business Use Percentage column. It uses formulas to calculate Tax deductions.
All Business Expenses – This is the data source for the first spreadsheet of the template discussed above. Here, you can note down all the transactions made over time. It allows you to enter the Merchant Details along with the expense category and actual spend.
Other Expenses – Grouped – Here, you can record all the expenses that don’t fall into Schedule C categories. It is for your own record only. The spreadsheet contains expenses grouped into the categories defined by you.

This comprehensive spreadsheet is designed to record all the expenses related to your work.

It can be used by independent contractors as well as freelancers and small business owners.

How to create an Independent Contractor Expenses Template using Google Sheets

Now, if you wish to learn to use Google Sheets to design a 1099 template for independent contractors and freelancers, then this section is for you.

It is a step-by-step guide for beginners.

STEP #1 – Create A Template Header

This allows you to make your template more personal by entering the name at the top of the template.

Here are the steps to create a header,

Open a new Google Sheet by clicking here
Select the entire first row
Increase the height as shown in the following image
Select all the cells from A1 to E1
Go to the toolbar section that sits below the main menu
Click on the Merge cells icon
Type “John Doe“
(Make sure to replace the keyword “John Doe” with your name)
Press “Enter” on your keyboard
Now, again select the merged cell
Increase the font size to 18
Change the font alignment to the middle
Change the font type to “Lexend“
Next, change the cell background color to green (HEX Code – #00ac46)
Change the font color to white

Here’s how our header looks,

Now, we will name the current spreadsheet “Report.” You need to go to the lower-left-most corner of the screen, as shown below, and double-click on the name “Sheet1” to edit it.

This spreadsheet is our summary of expenses, where most of the data will be pulled automatically using various formulas in Google Sheets.

STEP #2 – Create Expenses Table

In this step, we will create a table to record all of our expenses.

Let us use a different spreadsheet for simplicity and avoid confusion in the future.

Go to the lower-leftmost corner of the screen and click on the “+” icon, as shown in the following image.

Next, double-click on the name “Sheet2” and rename it as “Expenses.”

All of the records from this new spreadsheet will be used in the Report spreadsheet created in Step 1.

Here are the steps to create an expenses table,

Select the cell “A1”
Type “Date” and press the Enter key
Now, select the cell “B1” and type “Merchant Name“
Repeat the above steps and complete the table as shown below
Now, choose all the columns from A to E
Increase the width of the column as shown below
Select all the cells from A1 to E1
Change the cell background color to green (HEX Code – #00ac46)
Change the font color to white
Adjust the font alignment to the middle
Change the font type to “Lexend“
Next, let us select A2 to E20, as shown in the following image
Go to the toolbar section and click on the Borders icon
Change the border color to light gray by referring to the following image
Select the border type as “All borders“

Our table for expenses is almost done. But, we need to ensure that whenever we click on any cell of the Date column, a calendar popup will be displayed.

Let’s begin,

Select all the cells of the Date column (from A2 to A20)
Go to the main menu and click on the “Data” tab
Select the “Data validation” option from the popup
A new dialog box will be opened on the right side of the screen as shown below
Click on the “Add rule” button
Next, click on the dropdown below the “Criteria” option
Select “Is valid date” from the list

Now, if you double-click on the cell A2, you will see a calendar popup from which the date can be selected easily.

Similarly, for the Amount column, let’s ensure that whenever we edit any cell, it will be reflected with proper currency (“$” symbol).

Select all the cells of the Amount column (from D2 to D20)
Hover to the main menu and click on the “Format” tab
Select “Number” from the popup
Click on “Accounting“

When you enter any amount within the cells between D2 and D20, it will be displayed with a dollar symbol, as shown below.

For the Schedule C Category, let us create a dropdown with predefined values.

Here is a complete list of categories from the Form 1040 (Schedule C).

Advertising
Car and truck expenses
Commissions and fees
Contract labor
Depletion
Depreciation and Section 179 expense deduction
Employee benefit programs
Insurance
Interest: Mortgage
Interest: Other
Legal and professional services
Office expense
Pension and profit-sharing plans
Rent or lease: Vehicles, machinery, etc.
Rent or lease: Other business property
Repairs and maintenance
Supplies
Taxes and licenses
Travel
Deductible meals
Utilities
Wages
Business use of your home
Other expenses

We will use all these categories in our template.

Let’s begin,

Select all the cells of column E from E2 to E20
Go to the main menu
Click on the “Data” tab
Select “Data validation” from the popup
A new dialog box will appear on the right side of the screen
Click on the “Add rule” button
Now, click on the box as shown below and type “Advertising“
In the second box, type “Car and truck expenses“
For the third one, you need to click on the “Add another item” button
A new empty box will appear, as shown below
Type “Commissions and fees“
Next, repeat the above steps and complete the dropdown list as shown below
Finally, scroll down and click on the “Advanced options“
You will see new options as shown below
Tick the radio button before “Show a warning” and “Arrow” as shown in the following image
Press the “Done” button

You will see a new dropdown icon appear across all the cells of column E (Schedule C Category). Refer to the following image.

If you click on the dropdown icon, a list will be displayed.

That’s it. Our expenses table is ready. With sample data in the first row, it looks like below.

STEP #3 – Create Summary Table

Let’s return to the Report spreadsheet, as our expense summary table will be displayed there.

Click on the cell “A3”
Type “Schedule C Category“
Next, select the cell “B3” and type “Line“
Repeat the above steps and complete the table as shown below
Select all the columns from A to E
Increase their width as shown below
Select all the cells from A3 to E3
Change the cell background color to green (HEX Code – #00ac46)
Change the font color to white
Change the font alignment to the middle
Change the font type to “Lexend“
Now, we need to enter the Schedule C categories in the first column
Select the cell A4 and type “Advertising“
Next, select the cell A5 and type “Car and truck expenses“
Repeat the above two steps and complete the table as shown below

(You will find a complete list of Schedule C categories in Step 2 above)
Similarly, we need to enter the Line number. It is nothing but the line number on Form 1040 for your reference while filing the tax
Select the cell B4 and type “8“
Next, select the cell B5 and type “9“
Repeat the above steps and complete the table as shown below

Next, for the Total Amount column, we will use the SUMIF function in Google Sheets.

=SUMIF(Expenses!E2:E20,A4,Expenses!D2:D20)

Here are the steps,

Select all the cells from the column C (Total Amount)
Hover to the main menu and click on the “Format” tab
Select “Number” from the popup
Choose “Accounting“
Next, select the cell C4
Type the formula “=SUMIF(Expenses!E2:E20,A4,Expenses!D2:D20)”
(Make sure to copy and paste the formula as is)
Press the “Enter” key
Again, select the cell C4 and hover to the lower-rightmost corner over the Fill Handle
Double-click on the Fill Handle to apply the formula to the rest of the cells of the column

For the Business Use % column, we must ensure that the values entered here will be formatted as percentages.

Select all the cells of the column D
Go to the main menu
Click on the “Format” tab
Select “Number” from the popup
Choose “Percent” from the list

Next, for tax deductions, we will use the following formula,

=IF(ISBLANK(D4),C4,MULTIPLY(C4,D4))

Let’s begin,

Select the cell E4
Type “=IF(ISBLANK(D4),C4,MULTIPLY(C4,D4))”
(You can simply copy and paste the above formula)
Now, hover to the lower rightmost corner over the Fill Handle of the cell E4
You will see a “+” icon
Click on it and drag till the end of the table