Unlimited receipt and distance tracking for sole proprietors and individuals, now free on New Expensify.
tl;dr - Use "Track expense" in New Expensify to scan receipts, record expenses, or capture start/stop distance logs for your personal/LLC tax records, for free!
Did you deduct every business expense from the personal tax form you just filed? Are you separating your personal and business finances to help your LLC protect your personal assets in case your business goes bust? Like planting a tree, the best time to start expense tracking was last year – and the second best time is right now! There are a lot of good reasons, but the best reason for you depends on your circumstance:
If you are an independent contractor / sole proprietor
If you're working for yourself, you can deduct your business expenses from your personal taxes. So track every purchase you make for the business, as well as any distance you drive for the business, and you can likely deduct it from your personal income at the end of the year when filing taxes, ensuring you get the biggest possible return.
If you own an LLC
An LLC is a "limited liability company", which means it helps protect your personal assets from seizure in the event your business goes under. But its ability to limit your liability is only as strong as your recordkeeping to separate your personal and business expenses. By tracking exactly what you buy for the business – and only using business assets for business purposes – you can protect your personal assets from creditors in the event your business ends up with debts it can't cover.
If you're an entrepreneur
When I started Expensify, it was barely more than a vague hope to grow into something bigger – and I was doing the absolute minimum accounting so I could focus on writing code. However, I did have a dream of eventually growing it beyond me and my laptop, so I kept track of everything I spent on the company, and the first thing I did after raising my seed round was pay myself back for everything I had spent to that point. When it's just you and a laptop with very little to show for your efforts, tracking the money you put into it with the dream of paying yourself back can be a good motivator to keep going.
If you're trying to keep a home project under budget
I'm currently 13 months into a 3 month pool project, and as I survey the wasteland of my back yard, I often wonder how I got myself into this mess. If you're anything like me, home projects always seem to take longer and cost more than expected – tracking the expenses associated with a big home project is a good way to stay in control of your finances and make sure you don't get in over your head.
Regardless of your reason, New Expensify has got you covered:
Go to new.expensify.com on your phone or computer
Tap "Track expense"
Choose what you want to track:
Manual - Just enter an amount with a description
Scan - Let your camera and our OCR do the work
Distance - Enter the start/stop address and we'll suggest a deductible rate
View your expense anytime as it’s stored permanently on our servers for long term retention
All that for free! Or upgrade to a Collect workspace to:
Tag and categorize your expenses
Share them with your accountant
Customize your mileage rate
Sync with Quickbooks or Xero
... everything else your business needs (expense reports, corporate cards, invoice sending, bill payment, etc, etc)
If you're anxious about the deductions you are missing out on, or worried about whether your LLC's personal asset protections will hold up in court, or just struggling to stay on top of your budget, now's the best time to start tracking your expenses.
-david
Founder and CEO of Expensify
Questions? Ask me in the #new-expensify-feedback room!
PS: As the school year winds down and summer comes into focus, don't forget to invite your kid's teachers to Teacher's Unite, the Expensify.org campaign to reimburse teachers for 50% of what they pay out of pocket to help your kids in their classroom.
