A ledger of its own for the work on the side
A separate group for the freelance work, the Etsy shop, or the weekend consulting. Its own budget, its own currency if you bill abroad, and a CSV with what the accountant needs at year-end.
A separate group for the work
Create an Expense Group for the freelance work, the Etsy shop, or the side consulting. Coffees with clients stay in that group and don't bleed into your personal monthly average. Switch between groups in two taps.
CSV with the columns the accountant wants
Export the group at year-end. Date, name, amount, original currency, amount in your home currency, category, group, type, and your note. Drop it in a spreadsheet, attach it to an email, done.
Multi-currency for clients abroad
Bill in one currency, pay tools in another. Add the currencies you need to the group with rates you set, log entries in any of them, and CashJot shows both the original and home-currency value on every entry. Totals roll up to your home currency.
Notes for the things you'll forget by tax time
Add the project, client, invoice reference, or rationale to each entry. Six months on, the note tells you what the charge was for without digging up the receipt.
A ledger, not accounting software
There's no receipt scanning, no mileage tracking, no invoicing, and no bank connection here. If the work needs those, Expensify or QuickBooks is the right tool, and CashJot can sit alongside as the personal ledger.
What it gives you is the light version of separation: the side work's spending in its own group, logged in a couple of seconds from your phone, totalled on its own, and exportable when tax time asks. It works offline, and everything syncs through your own iCloud, with no account and no bank login.
Setting it up takes a few minutes: the step-by-step side hustle playbook covers the work group, separate name histories, a repeating budget, the year-end CSV, and the same trick for big one-off purchases.
Frequently asked
Is CashJot a substitute for QuickBooks or Expensify?
No. CashJot is a personal ledger, not accounting software. There's no receipt scanning, no mileage tracking, no invoicing, and no bank connection. If you need any of those, use CashJot alongside the right tool. If you don't, CashJot is the lighter option that stays out of your way.
Can I separate side-project expenses from my personal spending?
Yes. That's what Expense Groups are for. Keep "Daily" for personal and a "Side Project" group for the work, each with its own budget and reports. Switch between them in the group selector. Multiple groups are part of CashJot Plus.
What if I bill clients in another currency?
Add the client's currency to the freelance group with a rate you set, then log entries in either currency. CashJot stores both values on every entry and rolls totals up to your home currency on reports and CSV. Adding currencies to a group and multi-currency logging are part of CashJot Plus.
How do I hand expenses to my accountant at year-end?
Open the group, export to CSV. The export carries date, name, amount, currency, amount in your home currency, category, group, type (one-time or recurring), and your note for each entry. Drop it in a spreadsheet, attach it to an email.
Do I need CashJot Plus for a freelance setup?
For most of it, yes. Multiple Expense Groups, custom currency on a group, budgets, weekly and yearly reports, and CSV export are all part of CashJot Plus.
More ways people use CashJot
From the blog
Give the side work its own group from day one.