Tradesperson Finance Spreadsheet: Know What Each Job Actually Made
Sparkies, plumbers, builders, painters — the money moves fast and messy. Materials on one card, a quote here, a deposit there, GST to hold back, and cash jobs that never make it into any system. A simple spreadsheet keeps you out of trouble at tax time and tells you the thing that actually matters: which jobs made money.
Job-by-job, not just month-by-month
The mistake tradies make is tracking the bank balance instead of the job. A busy month can still lose money if you underquoted materials. Track each job with:
- Quote / price
- Materials cost
- Hours / labour
- = Profit on the job
Do that for a few months and patterns appear — the job types you should chase, and the ones that aren't worth the ute trip.
Don't forget the GST
If you're GST-registered, part of every payment isn't yours — it's tax you're holding. A column that sets aside the GST portion (at your rate) stops the nasty surprise when the return is due. Same logic as a tax pot: hold it back the moment you're paid.
The ready-made option
The Sheetsmith Bookkeeping & Profit-and-Loss Tracker gives you the P&L, expense categories and GST/sales-tax set-aside a sole trader needs, with monthly totals and charts. (There's a trade-specific version in the shop too if you'd like it pre-labelled.) Excel and Google Sheets, one-off download, no subscription.
General information and a spreadsheet how-to — not accounting or tax advice. Confirm your GST obligations with your tax authority or an accountant.