One file for the whole business
Clients, invoices, expenses and tax reserves live in a single text file you can open, search and back up.
For freelancers
Know what every client owes you — and what to set aside for tax
One plain-text ledger for your freelance business. See income by client, chase the invoices still unpaid, and set money aside for quarterly estimated taxes before it gets spent.
View full screenshot- Income by client
- Quarterly tax set-asides
- Private by default
Clients and invoices
See who has paid, who hasn't, and who is worth your time
Record each invoice as a receivable when you send it and clear it when the payment lands, so your ledger always knows what is still outstanding.
- Give every client its own income account and see revenue per client.
- Track each sent invoice as a receivable until the payment arrives.
- Spot late payers and slow months before they become a cash crunch.
Tax season, without the scramble
Quarterly estimates you can see coming
Categorize expenses the way your tax return groups them as you go, and move a share of every payment into a tax reserve — so each quarterly payment is already set aside.
- Move a share of each client payment into a tax reserve account.
- Map expense accounts to Schedule C categories as you record them.
- Reconcile 1099-NEC and 1099-K forms against the income you recorded.
View full screenshotBusiness and personal, kept apart
One checking account, two clean sets of books
Most freelancers start with one bank account for everything. Accounts in your ledger keep business and personal spending apart, even when the money is not.
- Tag business expenses paid from a personal card without a second account.
- Record owner draws so your profit and your paycheck stay distinct.
- Pull a business-only income statement whenever a lender or accountant asks.
Why plain text
Books that work as hard as you do
A freelance business changes every year — new clients, new tools, new tax rules. A plain-text ledger keeps every year of it in a format you own and can always read.
Ready when the quarter closes
Quarter-to-date income, expenses and reserves are one report away, so estimating a payment starts from real numbers.
Reports by client and project
Filter by client, project tag or year to see which work actually pays — and share a read-only report with your accountant.
Yours, with no lock-in
Export everything at any time and open it with any Beancount tool. Your history is never trapped in an app subscription.
Questions freelancers ask
How client income, invoices and taxes work in a plain-text ledger.
How do I track income from several clients who send me 1099s?
Give each client its own income account, such as Income:Clients:Acme, and record every payment there. At year end, compare each client's total with the 1099-NEC or 1099-K you received; any gap points to the payment to check.
Can beancount.io help me with quarterly estimated taxes?
It shows the numbers an estimate starts from. Quarter-to-date income and expenses are one report away, and moving a share of each payment into an Assets:Tax-Reserve account shows how much you have set aside. Your tax professional decides what to pay.
I use one bank account for business and personal money. Is that a problem?
Not for your ledger. Each transaction goes to a business or a personal account, so reports can show the business on its own even when the money shares one bank account. Owner draws record what you paid yourself.
How do I track unpaid invoices?
Record each invoice as a receivable, such as Assets:Receivable:Acme, when you send it, and clear it when the client pays. The balance of each receivable account is exactly what that client still owes you.
Start your freelance ledger today
Free to start. One plain-text ledger for your clients, invoices and tax set-asides — private, portable and always yours.