Irregular Income Budget Spreadsheet

About this template

This irregular income budget lets you pay yourself one fixed salary out of twelve months that are never the same size. It is for freelancers, the self employed and anyone on commission income who wants a steady month from an unsteady year.

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).

Income smoothing

Good months top up a buffer and lean months draw it down. The number that matters, how many months of salary are in the buffer right now, is a cell rather than homework. Set the salary once and every month recalculates.

The demo is a real freelance year: 7,682 in November, 1,900 in August when only the retainer lands, and the buffer absorbs the difference.

• Income Smoothing: pay yourself a salary and watch the buffer
• Lean and strong months flag themselves against the salary you set
• If the work stopped: buffer, savings and cash, in months of runway

28 connected tabs

Behind the smoothing sits a complete budget for variable income. Everything reads from one transaction list, so nothing is typed twice and there are no pivot tables to refresh.

• 2,000 transactions and 40 categories, all renameable
• Every figure calculated: budgets, variances, totals and percentages
• Over-budget and overdue amounts color themselves
• Drop-down lists that grow as you add accounts and categories
• Charts that redraw from your own numbers, not pictures

So the freelance budget and the household budget are the same file, and the months of runway update every time you add a transaction.

You get a filled-in copy as well as a blank one: a full demo year you can click through, and a blank ready for your own money, in Excel and Google Sheets. It uses no dynamic arrays, no macros and no add-ins, so it behaves the same in every supported version, and the Google Sheets version is a real workbook, not a PDF with a link in it.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac, and LibreOffice. No Microsoft 365 subscription required.
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. No Google account is needed for the Excel files.
• No add-ins, no macros, no subscription and no bank connection

What you download

• The Excel workbook filled with a worked example, and the same workbook blank and ready for yours
• The instruction guide, which has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready to download as soon as payment clears. The Start Here tab walks you through setup in a few minutes. The files are for your own household; please do not share or resell them. Questions before or after you buy? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work in Excel or Google Sheets?

Both. You get Excel files for Excel 2016 or later on Windows and Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to make Google Sheets copies with a free Google account.

How does income smoothing work here?

You set a fixed salary. Months that earn more than it top up a buffer, months that earn less draw it down, and the file shows how many months of salary the buffer holds.

Can it show how long I could last without work?

Yes. It adds up buffer, savings and cash and shows the total in months of runway.

Does it flag lean months?

Yes. Lean and strong months flag themselves against the salary you set.

Can I rename the categories?

Yes. All 40 categories can be renamed, and drop-downs grow as you add accounts and categories.