Freelancer Tax Estimator (Excel, Google Sheets) Income Tracker

FREELANCER INCOME & TAX ESTIMATOR — Excel and Google Sheets

What you will owe, what to send each quarter, and how much of every payment is not actually yours.

Eleven linked tabs, about 2,000 formulas, and a filled-in worked example — a copywriter with a full year of invoices, expenses, mileage and a home office — so you can see what every column does before you touch it. Then you delete it and put yours in.

WHAT IS INSIDE

• Setup — nine answers. Filing status, state rate, last year's tax, your own set-aside rule
• Rates and Brackets — the published 2026 federal figures, in cells you can edit when they change
• Money In — 300 rows: invoiced, platform or card fee, net to you. Only rows marked Paid count as income
• Money Out — 400 rows with a business-share column on every row, because the phone is not 100% work
• Mileage — 200 trips at the standard rate
• Home Office — the simple method and the longer method side by side; the file claims the bigger one
• The Estimate — the whole year in one column, from money in to the number to send each quarter
• Quarters — the four dates, what to send, what you sent, and how far behind you are today
• Set Aside — every payment, the slice that is not yours, and what should be in the other account
• Month by Month — two years, counted from the tabs behind
• Dashboard — four charts that read the same cells the tables do

THE ARITHMETIC IT ACTUALLY DOES

Self-employment tax on 92.35% of profit. Social Security capped at the wage base, Medicare on top, and the additional Medicare surcharge above the threshold. Half the self-employment tax deducted from income. The qualified business income deduction, with its cap. The standard deduction for your filing status. Federal income tax worked out band by band, with each band shown separately so you can see where your money sits. A flat state rate. Then both safe-harbour routes — 90% of this year or 100%/110% of last year — and the smaller of the two, divided by four.

WHY THIS ONE

Most tax spreadsheets are a single percentage multiplied by your income. This one shows the steps, keeps every rate in an editable cell so the file still works next year, and ends on the one number that actually changes behaviour: the share of every payment that was never yours. In the worked example a 30% rule of thumb over-collects by $5,325 — the safe direction to be wrong in, but worth knowing.

TWO COPIES IN THE DOWNLOAD
One workbook has the worked example filled in, so you can see what every column expects before you touch anything. The second is the same file completely blank — same tabs, same formulas, same charts — ready for your own numbers from the first row. Start on whichever suits you.


HONEST LIMITS — please read these before buying

• It is an estimate, not a tax return. No credits, no dependants, no retirement contributions, no depreciation schedule, no second business, no spouse's own deductions
• The state line is one flat rate. Real state returns have their own brackets and sometimes a city on top
• The QBI deduction is simplified. Above the phase-out, switch it off and ask an accountant
• It assumes a sole proprietor or single-member LLC. S-corps, partnerships and payroll need something else
• Nothing is connected to anything. No bank feed, no login, no import
• It is not tax advice. It is arithmetic you can check, laid out so you can see every step

WHAT YOU GET

• Freelancer_Tax_Estimator.xlsx — 11 tabs, works in Excel and Google Sheets
• A written Start Here guide (PDF) — the order to fill it in, what each tab is for, and what to do when a number looks wrong

Instant download. Nothing is posted.

HOW TO USE IT IN GOOGLE SHEETS

Upload the .xlsx to Drive and open it with Sheets. Every formula works. For the best experience use File → Save as Google Sheets once and work in that copy.

A NOTE ON PRIVACY

I never ask for shop access. No password, no manager invite, no app permissions. You download two files and that is the whole transaction.

Licence: for your own business. Reselling or redistributing the files is not allowed.

Something wrong with the file? Message me and I will fix it.