Updated
You pay for your work the way you pay for everything. A card here, a transfer there, a subscription that renews quietly.
By April, the record of what you spent for work is spread across statements, inboxes and the receipts you meant to photograph. Some of it was never a charge at all.
So it waits. Then it takes a weekend. And whatever you could not find stays off the list.
Keeping track of business expenses through the year
A record of a business expense should show what you paid and that it was for your work. A bank or card statement shows the date, the amount and who was paid. It does not show what you bought or why, so keep the receipt or invoice, and note the business purpose while you still remember it.
Travel, meals and car use need more: the date, the place and the business reason and, for a meal, who was there. For the car, that means a record of business miles kept as you drive, not rebuilt in April.
If you can, pay work costs from a card or account you use only for work. If one card covers everything, mark the business charges as they happen.
Keep paper and digital receipts in one place; a receipt saved from an email counts as much as a paper one. See how to organize receipts for taxes and whether a bank statement can stand in for a receipt.
Amy works from what you already have.
Tell her what you do. Text her the receipt while you are still at the counter, forward her the ones in your inbox, send her your statements. Nothing to download.
Amy reads it all for your kind of work, finds your likely business expenses, and tells you which records are missing. One card for everything? Send it as it is.
Your CPA sees where every number came from.
You review and confirm. Your CPA sees the source behind every line and makes the call.
For the rules, start with self-employed tax deductions, how to find tax deductions you missed and write-offs by profession, including consultants and real estate agents.
