Freelance Business Hub Spreadsheet

Run your whole freelance business from one workbook — and always know what you're owed.

Most freelance spreadsheets are a nicer-looking ledger. You type things in, and later you type them in again somewhere else. This one connects: you enter each client and project ONCE, and the invoices, hours, profit, aging and tax set-aside fill themselves in from there. No formulas to build, nothing to link.

• A DASHBOARD THAT TELLS YOU WHAT TODAY NEEDS

Open one tab and see it all: what's Outstanding, what's Overdue, what you've been Paid This Month, income year to date, open projects, work due in 7 days, unbilled hours, and agreed fees still to invoice.

Underneath it: an Action Needed list of invoices overdue or due within a week, an Oldest Unpaid list to chase first, and a proper Invoice Aging breakdown — current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, 90+ — so you know when a polite email should become a phone call.

• THE NUMBER MOST FREELANCE TEMPLATES GET WRONG"Profit" usually means whichever figure was easiest to calculate. Here the two questions are answered separately:
• Operating Profit — the cash you actually kept. Income received, less expenses paid and payment processing fees.
• Estimated Taxable Profit — that figure, with your mileage deduction applied.

Both are shown, both are labelled, and the Tax Center reconciles them on screen with a visible match check, so the periods can never quietly disagree with the year.

• ESTIMATED-TAX PERIODS THAT ARE ACTUALLY THE IRS PERIODS

Not four equal calendar quarters — the real ones: Jan–Mar, Apr–May, Jun–Aug, Sep–Dec, with the due dates beside them. Your set-aside rate lives on the Settings tab, and mileage is applied by trip date using BOTH 2026 IRS rates (72.5 cents through June 30, 76 cents from July 1), so nothing goes stale mid-year.

• NOTHING SLIPS THROUGH — INCLUDING FLAT-FEE WORK

Most trackers only catch unbilled hours, so flat-fee and retainer work silently reads as zero. This one shows Unbilled Hourly and Left to Invoice side by side — agreed project value you haven't invoiced yet. Unbilled work is the most common leak in a freelance business, and here it's a number on your dashboard.

• KNOW WHICH CLIENTS ARE ACTUALLY WORTH ITClient Profitability gives every client two figures: Billed Rate (did you price the work well?) and Collected Rate (has the money actually arrived?). A client can look profitable and still be quietly funding itself with your cash flow — this shows you which is which.
• EVERYTHING, GROUPED BY HOW THE MONEY MOVESMONEY IN — Invoices, Payments, Pipeline (with weighted value and follow-up dates), Services & Rates

CLIENTS & WORK — Clients, Projects, Time Log, Client Profitability

MONEY OUT — Expenses, Mileage Log, Subscriptions (the quiet annual leak)

DASHBOARDS & TAX — Start Here, Business Command Center, Profit Dashboard with three charts, Tax Center, Monthly Summary, Settings

• THE PREMIUM TOUCHES

Invoice status computes itself from your Payments tab — and a part-paid invoice that's past its due date still reads Overdue, because late is late. Partial payments tracked. Every dropdown reads from your own Settings lists, so you never retype a client name. A Reporting Year control means the workbook still works next January, and lets you look back at a past year. Rows are built with room to grow: 500 time entries, 500 expenses, 300 invoices, 200 clients, 200 projects.

• MADE FOR REAL FREELANCE LIFE

Designers, writers, developers, photographers, consultants, coaches, VAs, marketers — anyone invoicing their own clients who's tired of guessing what's owed and dreading what they owe.------------------------------------------------------------WHAT YOU GET

• Google Sheets version (free to use, tested in Google Sheets) + Microsoft Excel version — both included
• 17 auto-calculating tabs — a filled Example workbook to learn from, and a clean Blank copy to work in
• How to Access guide (PDF) — one-click Google Sheets links and setup for both formats
• Quick Start Checklist (PDF) — your first 20 minutes, then a weekly and monthly rhythm
• Instant digital download · lifetime access · free updates · no subscriptionHOW IT WORKS1. Purchase and download instantly.2. Open the How to Access guide and pick Google Sheets or Excel.3. On the Settings tab, edit the lists to match your business and set your tax rate.4. Add your clients on the Clients tab. Everything else fills in from there.5. Each week, log hours, raise invoices, record payments. The dashboard does the rest.------------------------------------------------------------FAQDO I NEED EXCEL?

No. It works free in Google Sheets and there's a one-click link in your guide. An Excel version is included if you'd rather use that.

WILL IT WORK ON MY PHONE?

You can view and add rows in the Google Sheets app. The dashboards are best on a laptop — there's a lot to see.

DO I HAVE TO BUILD ANY FORMULAS?

None. You type in the white cells and everything shaded calculates itself. Every tab is protected so you can't overwrite a formula by accident — there's no password, and nothing is hidden from you.

IS THIS TAX ADVICE?

No. It estimates a set-aside from the cash you've actually received and keeps your expenses and mileage tidy for your accountant. It doesn't calculate self-employment tax, credits or state tax, and it doesn't identify every allowable deduction. Confirm your set-aside rate with a tax professional and edit it on the Settings tab.

I ALREADY HAVE A YEAR OF RECORDS ELSEWHERE — CAN I BRING THEM IN?

Yes. Paste them in, and use the Reporting Year setting to switch between years, so you can keep more than one year in the same workbook.

DOES IT HANDLE PARTIAL PAYMENTS?

Yes. Record each payment as it lands and the invoice balance updates. If it's still unpaid past the due date, it reads Overdue rather than hiding as "partial".------------------------------------------------------------This is a digital download — no physical product will be shipped. For personal and small business use. A planning and record-keeping tool, not tax, legal or financial advice. Excel 2016 or newer recommended (desktop version) — Excel for the web and other apps can open the file, but some formulas, dropdowns and charts may not behave. Not affiliated with Microsoft or Google. Because it's an instant download all sales are final, but if anything isn't working just message me and I'll make it right.

✦ HOW YOUR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD WORKS ✦

This is an instant digital download — there's nothing physical to ship. As soon as your payment goes through, you'll land on a confirmation page with your download link, and the same link arrives by email. Save the files somewhere you'll remember. If you lose the email, just message me and I'll resend it.

Open the spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, or use the included How-to-Access PDF to copy it into free Google Sheets in one click — whichever you prefer. It's yours to reuse for as long as you need it. If anything's ever wrong with a file, message me and I'll make it right.

✦ GOOD TO KNOW ✦

• Instant digital download — no physical item ships
• Yours forever — re-download any time, reuse it year after year
• Personal use only — please don't resell, share, or redistribute the files
• Colors may look slightly different from screen to screen and printer to printer
• Because it's a digital product, all sales are final — but if something's wrong with your file, just message me and I'll fix it

© Muse & Make Co. For personal use only. Not for resale or redistribution.