Guides › Money
Keep side-hustle income and costs organised
A simple running record of what your side work earns and costs, with a monthly summary ready for when you sort out your tax.
When to use it
Weekly, plus a monthly summary
Step by step
Create a side-hustle sheet
Make a Google Sheet with two tabs: Income (Date, Client or platform, Description, Amount) and Costs (Date, Supplier, What for, Amount, Receipt link).
Label related emails
In Gmail's settings, under Filters, set up a filter that labels emails from your selling platforms, payment services and suppliers as Side hustle.
Turn emails into rows weekly
Once a week, copy the new emails from that label into your AI assistant with this prompt.
Prompt to copyHere are this week's emails about my side business selling [what you do]. Extract every sale, payment received, fee and purchase. Return two tables: INCOME (Date, Client or platform, Description, Amount) and COSTS (Date, Supplier, What for, Amount). Include platform fees as costs. Use DD/MM/YYYY dates. Don't guess amounts: write CHECK if unclear. [paste emails]Paste and check
Paste each table into the matching tab, and save receipts to a Google Drive folder with a link in the Costs tab.
Run a monthly summary
At month end, ask the AI to total income, costs and profit by month from your sheet. Check what records your country's tax service expects, and speak to an accountant if you're unsure.
What you get
November: Income £640 (14 sales via craft marketplace, 2 commissions). Costs £187 (materials £122, platform fees £41, postage £24). Profit £453. Year to date profit: £3,210.
Tips
- Many countries have a threshold before side income must be declared. Check your official tax website or an accountant rather than relying on the AI.
- Keep business and personal spending in separate accounts if you can. It makes this far easier.