Started keeping a spreadsheet of every recurring expense for my LLC after I realized I had no idea what was actually getting charged each month. So far I've got software subscriptions, the registered agent fee, domain hosting, accountant retainer, and some insurance premium that renews quarterly. What I did not expect is how many small items add up to more than the big obvious ones. Anyone else track this on a regular basis?
LLC
I made a spreadsheet of every recurring LLC expense
I track recurring expenses but only quarterly. Monthly got too noisy.
Registered agent fee is the one I always forget until it hits. What are you using for the insurance line? We have general liability that renews annually, but I keep seeing quarterly renewals mentioned online.
How many rows do you have so far? I built something similar and it ballooned to about forty line items once I added the annual fees sprad across months. The trick was adding a column for "next charge date" so nothing surprises me.
quietflint it's a business owner's policy bundled with the liability, which is why it comes quarterly. saltmarsh_7 I'm at 22 rows right now, but you're right that the annual stuff needs a separate tab. I hadn't thought about spreading them across months.
Separate tab for annual is the way. I also put a column for payment method so I can cancel a card if a vendor turns weird. That column has saved me twice.
What software are you using for the spreadsheet itself? I have been doing this in a notebook because I don't want to pay for another subscription just to track subscriptions.
grayheron88 I use a plain spreadsheet file stored locally. The irony of paying for a tracking app is real. mossandmortar's payment method column is a good idea though, I might add that.
One thing I did not think about until later: the accountant retainer can change if you hand over books that need cleanup. Mine went up for two monhs and I had budgeted the old number. Worth marking those kinds of lines as variable rather than fixed.
The quarterly insurance renewal is the one that keeps catching me. Twice I have had to move money from savings because I forgot to set it aside.
brickwallend that is exactly why I started this. The quarterly cycle is easy to lose in a monthly review. Adding a savings earmark for those now, and the variable column from saltmarsh_7 is going going in too.
For quarterly stuff I set a reminder fourteen days before the expected charge. Gives me time to check the amount hasn't crept up without me noticing.