Consultant Client and Retainer Tracker

About this template

This consultant retainer tracker is a bookkeeping workbook for self employed consultants and advisers. It records retainers, project fees, advisory days and workshops against the costs of delivering them, and keeps expenses you recharge to clients on their own line so they never pass for earned revenue.

Please read: This is a tracker tool only, not financial, tax, legal, medical or any other professional advice or advisory service. It records and calculates what you enter; you are solely responsible for checking all figures, rates, dates and results and for every decision you make. By purchasing, downloading or using it, you accept these terms (your statutory consumer rights are not affected).

Built around how consultants get paid

A generic ledger opens with product sales and service income. This consulting bookkeeping file opens with the lines you actually bill.

• Income lines: Retainers, Projects, Advisory days and Workshops
• Expense lines: Software and subscriptions, Contractors, Travel and Meals, and more
• Mileage reasons: client site, workshop, pitch and conference, chosen from a drop-down

Train tickets you paid for and later billed back are not income. Giving them their own line means the revenue figure on the dashboard is the work you did.

Thirteen connected tabs

Start Here, Setup, Clients, Invoices, Income, Expenses, Mileage, Monthly, Quarterly, Estimated Tax, Profit and Loss, Balances and Dashboard.

• 500 income rows and 500 expense rows
• An invoice tracker showing what was raised, sent, paid and overdue
• Estimated tax set aside as you go
• Monthly and quarterly totals, the way tax is usually filed
• A profit and loss built from the same two lists
• A client tracker with 10 client records and what each one has been worth
• Account balances and a dashboard that reads everything

See a full year before you start

One copy comes filled with a worked year of 264 income entries and 330 expense entries, finishing at a 59.9% margin, so you can see every tab working. The other copy is blank and ready for your own clients. The Start Here tab walks you through setup in a few minutes.

It is a bookkeeping spreadsheet, not an accountant. Tax rates and what you can claim are yours to set and yours to check.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac, and LibreOffice
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. The Google Sheets version is a real workbook you take a copy of, not a PDF with a link in it.
• No dynamic arrays, no macros, no add-ins and no subscription

What you download

• Two Excel workbooks: the filled example and a blank copy
• The instruction guide, which has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Everything is ready to download as soon as payment clears. The files are for personal and business use on your own devices; please do not share or resell them. Questions? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use it in Excel and Google Sheets?

Yes. There are Excel workbooks for Excel 2016 or later on Windows and Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to copy the Google Sheets versions with a free Google account.

How do I handle expenses I bill back to a client?

Recharged expenses get their own line, so they are kept apart from the fees you earned and do not inflate your revenue figure.

Does it track unpaid invoices?

Yes. The Invoices tab shows each invoice as raised, sent, paid or overdue.

Does it calculate my tax bill?

The Estimated Tax tab sets tax aside as you go using the rate you enter. The rates and what you can claim are yours to set and check.

How many clients can I track?

The Clients tab holds 10 client records, each showing what that client has been worth, alongside 500 income and 500 expense rows.