Road Ready Free download · Expense spreadsheet
Owner-operator expense spreadsheet (free Excel download)
Short answer: This free spreadsheet gives an owner-operator four tabs: expenses with a category dropdown, weekly settlements with a built-in math check, nights away from home, and a monthly summary that totals everything and works out cost per mile. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers. No email required.
Download the spreadsheet (.xlsx)
What's in it
| Tab | What you enter | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| Expenses | Date, category (dropdown), vendor, amount, how you paid, receipt saved | Tags each line with its month; personal spending has its own category so it stays out of your costs |
| Settlements | Each weekly sheet: gross, reimbursements, each deduction, escrow, net, deposit date | Totals the deductions and checks the sheet: gross + reimbursements − deductions must equal net, or it says "CHECK THIS SHEET" |
| Nights Away | Date out and date back for each trip | Counts nights away for each month, with departure and return days kept visible |
| Summary | Your miles for each month | Gross, carrier deductions, expenses, what you kept, cost per mile and nights away, month by month |
How to use it in 10 minutes a week
- When the settlement sheet comes in, add one row on Settlements. If the Check column says "CHECK THIS SHEET", a number was misread; look again before moving on.
- Once a week, add your card and bank charges on Expenses and pick a category. Snap receipts as you go.
- After each trip, add the dates on Nights Away.
- At month-end, type the month's miles on Summary and read your cost per mile.
Why escrow and the truck payment are handled the way they are
- Escrow is your money, held by the carrier, so it's tracked on Settlements but left out of costs.
- The truck payment is counted as a cash cost, principal and interest together, so "kept after costs" shows real cash. In proper books, only the interest is an expense and the principal pays down the loan; that's one reason this sheet is a tracker, not a set of books. See the trucking chart of accounts.
Spreadsheet or bookkeeping?
A spreadsheet is a good start and better than a shoebox. It won't reconcile your accounts to your bank statements, catch a card payment counted twice, or produce the profit and loss and balance sheet a lender asks for. When you want that, Monthly Books does it for $89 a month, or a Catch-Up Cleanup turns a year of spreadsheet and statements into real books. Want your numbers now? Try the cost per mile calculator.
Common questions
Is the owner-operator expense spreadsheet free?
Yes. It's a free Excel file with no email required. It also opens in Google Sheets and Apple Numbers.
What should an owner-operator track in an expense sheet?
Every truck cost with its date, category, vendor and amount, each weekly settlement with its deductions, nights away from home, and monthly miles. Keep personal spending in its own category.
Is this a truck driver tax deductions worksheet?
It's a record-keeping worksheet. It organizes what you spent and when, which is what a tax preparer needs, but it doesn't decide which costs count on your tax return. That's your preparer's call.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets; the dropdowns and formulas carry over.
Does the spreadsheet calculate cost per mile?
Yes. Type each month's miles on the Summary tab and it divides that month's carrier deductions and expenses by the miles.
Why does my settlement row say CHECK THIS SHEET?
The numbers don't add up: gross plus reimbursements minus deductions doesn't equal the net you entered. Usually a line was misread or left out.