Tax receipts in a spreadsheet

Who this is for

Freelancers and sole props in March with a year of paper, phone photos, and emailed PDFs. Your accountant said “send me a spreadsheet, not a folder of JPEGs.” That file is the job. Not QuickBooks. Not e-file.

What the IRS wants you to keep

Keep receipts that support the numbers on your return: who you paid, the date, the amount, and what it was for. Meals, gas, office supplies, travel, medical if you deduct it. A county property-tax bill counts as a receipt. Mileage logs are separate — DropSheet does not do mileage.

Photograph the slip the day you get it. A faded thermal in April is often unreadable. The spreadsheet does not replace the original. For the IRS windows, see how long to keep receipts. For the pile itself, how to organize receipts for taxes. Keep the paper or the photo as long as your records require.

Columns a Schedule C filer actually needs

This is what DropSheet writes. It is not a line-by-line Schedule C form.

Excel adds a By category sheet so they can see meals vs gas vs office without sorting 200 rows. CSV is the same rows, one flat file, if their template wants that.

How long to keep them

The IRS publishes how long to keep records. Three years from the date you filed is the common period. Six years if more than 25% of gross income was left off. Seven years if you claim a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt. If you never filed, or filed a fraudulent return, they can go back further. That is their public rule, not a reading of your return. IRS: How long should I keep records? and Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records. How long to keep receipts. How to organize receipts for taxes. Ask your accountant how long to keep your box.

What they will ask for

Date, payee, amount, and what it was for. Totals by category. They will not want 200 JPEGs named IMG_4812. They may still ask to see a receipt if a row looks off. Have the originals.

Sample year in miniature: Northline Coffee $14.17 (meals), Shell Lakeview $52.18 (gas), Office Depot $38.99 (office), Uber $18.40 (travel). Total $123.74. That is the shape of the file. Yours will be longer.

Property tax bills

A county bill is a PDF or a photo. Drop it with the rest. Category: other. Landlords and anyone who itemizes can hand that row over with the year. DropSheet does not calculate millage, file with the county, or run an appeal.

How DropSheet fits

Drop the photos and PDFs on this page. Edit the rows. Type a total if a thermal slip is gone. Export Excel. Files stay here. $29.99 once.