Guides › Simple Bookkeeping Spreadsheet for Sole Traders (UK) · Updated 26-10-2026

Simple bookkeeping spreadsheet for sole traders (UK)

If you are a sole trader with a few invoices and receipts a month, you don’t need accounting software to stay on top of it. You need one spreadsheet and fifteen minutes a month.

The four things to record

• Income: every invoice with date, customer, amount, due date and paid date.
• Expenses: date, supplier, category, amount, and the business-use percentage for anything you also use privately, such as your phone.
• VAT (if registered): VAT charged on sales and reclaimable VAT on purchases, per quarter.
• What to set aside: a running figure for Income Tax and National Insurance so January isn’t a shock.

A 15-minute monthly routine

1. Add new invoices and mark any that were paid.
2. Add receipts from the month and file the photos in a folder per month.
3. Check the totals against your bank statement.
4. Chase any invoice marked overdue.

Keep records the right way

HMRC expects you to keep records for at least five years after the 31 January deadline for the tax year. Photos or scans of receipts are fine. If Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to you, you will need compatible software for the quarterly updates; many spreadsheet users connect their sheet with bridging software.

A ready-made version

The Freelancer Bookkeeping Tracker has an income log that flags Paid, Open and Overdue automatically, expenses with business-use % and reclaimable VAT, a quarterly tax summary and a dashboard. There is a pound (£) edition, and it works in Excel and Google Sheets with no subscription. For a deeper look at expenses, read our self-employed expense tracker guide.

FAQ

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