Tattoo Artist Bookkeeping Spreadsheet

About this template

This tattoo artist bookkeeping spreadsheet is for studio and guest artists who take deposits, pay chair rent and travel to conventions. It keeps deposits on their own line, apart from finished sessions, so your books show the money you have earned and the money you are still holding.

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).

Set up for a tattoo business

Instead of product sales and service income, the ledger opens with the lines a working artist uses.

• Income lines: Full-day sessions, Half-day sessions, Small pieces and flash, and Deposits
• Expense lines: Inks and needles, Chair or studio rent, Consumables and hygiene, and Licensing and registration, and more
• Mileage reasons: convention, supplier, guest spot and studio, chosen from a drop-down

A deposit is money held against a day you have not tattooed yet. When deposits and sessions share one line, January can look better than it really was. Treating Deposits as its own line gives you a simple deposit tracker inside the books.

Eleven connected tabs

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

• 500 income rows and 500 expense rows
• Mileage with your own reasons, so convention costs and guest spot travel add up for the year
• Monthly and quarterly totals, which is how tax gets filed
• A profit and loss built from the same two lists
• 10 client records showing what each has been worth
• Account balances, so the file knows what the business holds
• A dashboard reading all of it

A worked year to compare against

The filled copy is one artist's year: 442 income entries and 336 expense entries at a 34.4% margin. The blank copy is ready for your own bookings, and the Start Here tab walks you through setup in a few minutes.

This 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 one
• The instruction guide, with one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready the moment payment clears. They 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

Excel or Google Sheets?

Both. The Excel workbooks run on 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.

Can I keep deposits apart from session income?

Yes. Deposits is its own income line, separate from Full-day sessions, Half-day sessions and Small pieces and flash.

Where does chair rent go?

Chair or studio rent is a ready-made expense line, next to Inks and needles, Consumables and hygiene, and Licensing and registration.

Can I log travel to conventions and guest spots?

Yes. The Mileage tab has reasons including convention, supplier, guest spot and studio, and totals the year.

Will it calculate my tax?

No. It gives monthly and quarterly totals and a profit and loss. Tax rates and what you can claim are yours to set and check.