Business expense spreadsheet
- Monthly business expenses
- $2,725
- Meals, deductible half
- $70
- Deductible total, meals at half
- $2,655
- Annual run rate
- $32,700
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs you enter, by the method stated below it. The only rates PerDiemDesk supplies are the published IRS and GSA ones, named and linked where they are used: the defaults for meals, hotels and supplies are a worked example to replace with your own.
The figures above start from a worked example ($2,725). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Business expense spreadsheet worked example (CSV)
This is the monthly business expense spreadsheet as a form rather than a grid: ten categories chosen to map onto the lines a small business return asks for, one figure in each, and the totals that matter computed on the page. It shows the month's total, the deductible total with meals at half, the fixed costs that recur whether you sell anything or not, and what the month implies for the year. The figures are a worked example to overwrite with your own; the categories are the point.
Why meals sit in their own column
Under 26 U.S.C. 274(n) the deduction for food and beverages is limited to 50 percent of the amount spent, with narrow exceptions. A spreadsheet that adds meals into supplies or travel carries the full amount into a deductible total it is not entitled to. This sheet shows the meals line, the deductible half beside it, and a deductible total that already uses the half, so the number you hand to your accountant is the right one rather than one they have to correct.
Fixed costs are the floor the month has to clear
Rent, utilities, software and insurance are due whether the month was busy or dead, so the sheet totals them separately as fixed costs. A business that knows its fixed floor knows the revenue it needs before the first variable dollar is spent, and a month where variable spend grew while revenue did not is visible as a ratio rather than a feeling. Everything else on the sheet moves with activity and is the part you can actually manage month to month.
What a monthly sheet is for at year end
The annual run rate on this page is the month times twelve, which is a planning figure, not a return. The return wants the actual twelve months, each in its categories, with the receipts for any single expense of $75 or more and for lodging under 26 CFR 1.274-5. PerDiemDesk Pro keeps each saved sheet as that month's claim, attaches receipts to lines, and exports the year in one file; the free sheet is the month, on the page, for nothing.
Business expense spreadsheet: common questions
Is this a free business expense spreadsheet?
Yes, with no account: fill in the month and print it. Keeping months together, attaching receipts to lines and exporting the year are PerDiemDesk Pro, at $4 a month for the whole team.
What categories should a small business track?
The ten on this sheet cover most trades: rent, utilities, software, supplies, travel, meals, marketing, insurance, professional fees and other. They are chosen to map onto the lines a return asks for. If your business has a large category the sheet does not name, put it in other and tell us; adding a column is a small change.
Why is only half of meals deductible?
Because 26 U.S.C. 274(n) limits the deduction for food and beverages to 50 percent of the amount spent, with exceptions your accountant can tell you about. The sheet applies the general rule; it does not decide whether an exception applies to you.
Can I use it for a home office?
Put the business share of rent and utilities in those columns, as your accountant advises. The sheet does the arithmetic on what you enter; the apportionment is a tax question, not a spreadsheet one.
PerDiemDesk Pro
Keeping what you file
The reports are free forever. Pro turns them into your books: your logo, no watermark, saved claims by team member, approval and payment status, and clean exports for your accountant.
- Download as PDF
- No PerDiemDesk watermark
- Save and reopen later
- Your logo and tax reference on it
- Bulk export reports for your accountant
- Payment confirmations emailed to your team
- Connect your own Stripe account and get paid online
- Connect your QuickBooks Online or Xero
$4per month, whole team
Start PerDiemDesk Pro PricingRenews monthly at the price above until you cancel. We email you before any price change.
Where the rates in this tool come from
26 U.S.C. 274(n): only 50 percent of meal expenses allowed as deduction. Why the meals column shows its deductible half and the deductible total uses it.
26 CFR 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii): documentary evidence. The $75 and lodging receipt rules the year end record has to satisfy.
Cite or embed this figure
Business expense spreadsheet (Monthly business expenses): $2,725, PerDiemDesk, worked example.
Cite as: "Business expense spreadsheet, PerDiemDesk", updated 2026-09-02, https://perdiemdesk.com/tools/business-expense-spreadsheet/.