Freelance Voice-Over Artist Income and Expense Spreadsheet
A voice-over artist is paid per finished hour, per word, per session or by royalty share, and an agent may keep a cut before the money reaches you. This sheet logs each payment by job so you can see what every kind of work brought in.
How a voice-over artist gets paid, and what that means for the sheet
Voice work pays in several shapes: a per-finished-hour rate for audiobooks, a per-word fee for e-learning, a flat session fee for a spot, and sometimes a royalty share paid months later. Often an agent collects the fee first and sends you the net. Log Income when your share arrives, and name the job and rate type in the Description.
Usage and buyout fees can arrive separately from the session fee, so one job may create two or three income rows over several months. Keep the job title in the Description on each. If a client asks for part of an advance back, record that refund as its own row on the day.
One example month, logged
Invented numbers, to show the shape. Each row below is one line on the Transactions tab.
| Client | What it was | Income |
|---|---|---|
| Kestrel Audio Books | Audiobook narration, first half paid | $1,500 |
| Brightleaf Learning | E-learning script, per-word invoice | $630 |
| Tidepool Games | Character voices, one session day | $1,800 |
| Corvid Talent Agency | Web commercial usage fee, net of commission | $900 |
| Income total | $4,830 | |
| Category | What it was | Expense |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Large-diaphragm condenser microphone | $650 |
| Equipment | Two-channel audio interface | $200 |
| Home office | Booth blankets and boom stand | $220 |
| Software & subscriptions | Audio editing software, annual | $240 |
| Software & subscriptions | Remote session tool, monthly | $15 |
| Marketing | Demo reel production | $600 |
| Marketing | Casting site annual membership | $350 |
| Professional fees | Voice coaching session | $120 |
| Contractors | Audio editor for audiobook proofing | $320 |
| Expense total | $2,715 | |
In this example the month ends with $4,830 in, $2,715 out and $2,115 left before you set anything aside for tax.
The P&L tab sorts the same rows by category:
| Expense category | Month total |
|---|---|
| Software & subscriptions | $255 |
| Equipment | $850 |
| Contractors | $320 |
| Marketing | $950 |
| Home office | $220 |
| Professional fees | $120 |
| Expense total | $2,715 |
Where a voice-over artist's purchases go
- Equipment: A microphone, audio interface, headphones and pop filter are Equipment. If an interface comes bundled with plugins or a software license, split the receipt: the hardware as Equipment, the software as Software & subscriptions.
- Home office: Acoustic panels, booth blankets, a reflection filter and a stand treat the room rather than record the voice, so they can sit under Home office. Pick Equipment or Home office once for these items and keep it the same all year.
- Marketing: A demo reel, a casting site membership and a sample website are Marketing. A membership paid yearly is one row on its payment date. If an engineer produces your reel, log the invoice here and name the engineer in Client / Vendor.
- Contractors: An editor who proofs audiobook chapters, or an engineer who cleans up a delivery file, goes under Contractors. Put the job title in the Description so a filter on the Transactions tab lines up each job's cost with its payment.
Four tracking tips for a voice-over artist
- For audiobooks, write the finished hours or the word count in the Description of each payment. When rates differ between publishers, you can later compare what each job paid for the hours you spent recording.
- If an agent sends statements, record the net deposit as Income and keep the statement number in the Description. Add any job still missing from a statement to the Invoices tab, naming the agent as Client, so it stays Due or Overdue until paid.
- Royalty deposits arrive late and in uneven amounts. Date each one on the day it lands and name the title and period in the Description, so past dates show which months to use when you type expected royalties into the Cash Flow tab.
- When you rent a studio for one job, log the rental as an Other expense and any travel as a Travel row, both with the job title in the Description. That shows what the job cost to deliver.
Two formulas worth a cell of their own
These use the kit's Transactions tab (Type in column B, Category in C, Client / Vendor in E, Amount in F). Excel and Google Sheets both support SUMIFS.
- Spend in your biggest category, here Marketing:
=SUMIFS(Transactions!F:F,Transactions!B:B,"Expense",Transactions!C:C,"Marketing")returns $950 on the example month. - Income from one client:
=SUMIFS(Transactions!F:F,Transactions!B:B,"Income",Transactions!E:E,"Kestrel Audio Books")returns $1,500 on the example month.
Questions
How do I track audiobook payments that are paid in two parts?
Log each installment as its own Income row when it arrives, with the book title and 'first half' or 'balance' in the Description. The Invoices tab can hold the open balance until it is paid, so the second payment is easy to chase.
How do I record income when my agent takes a commission?
Log the amount that reaches your account as Income, and write the job and the agent's name in the Description. If the agent's statement lists the fee and commission separately, you can log the commission as an Other expense, as long as you do the same for every job.
Already built
The Freelancer Finance Spreadsheet Kit has the Transactions, Invoices, P&L, Cash Flow and Tax Set-Aside tabs wired together, with this kind of example data on every tab. One Excel file, $29.
Free: the Tax Set-Aside tab as a standalone Excel file
One working tab: type your quarterly income, expenses and the rate you choose, and it shows what is still to put aside. Confirm your email and the file arrives right away, plus an occasional note (at most one a week) on tracking freelance money. Unsubscribe in one click. Privacy.
The same sheet for other freelancers
- All freelancer spreadsheet guides by profession
- Freelance Consultant Income and Expense Spreadsheet Template
- Freelance Graphic Designer Income and Expense Spreadsheet
- Income and Expense Spreadsheet for Freelance Photographers
- Freelance Social Media Manager Income and Expense Spreadsheet
- Freelance Translator Spreadsheet for Per-Word Income and Costs
- Freelance UX Designer Income and Expense Spreadsheet
- Freelance Video Editor Spreadsheet for Income and Expenses
- Freelance Virtual Assistant Income and Expense Spreadsheet
- Income and Expense Spreadsheet for Freelance Web Developers
- Freelance Writer Income and Expense Spreadsheet for Articles
- Online Tutor Income and Expense Spreadsheet for Lesson Payouts
More freelancer finance guides
- Excel or Google Sheets for freelancer finances? What actually differs
- Freelance expense categories for a spreadsheet: a starter list that stays short
- How to build a freelance income and expense tracker in a spreadsheet
- A simple 12-month cash flow forecast for freelancers
- Freelancer profit and loss (P&L) in a spreadsheet: a one-page layout
- Freelancer runway: three spreadsheet formulas for how long your cash lasts
- Freelancer tax set-aside: what goes into the number, and how to track it
- Invoice tracker spreadsheet: formulas for paid, due and overdue
- Budgeting on irregular freelance income: the baseline-pay method
- How to track freelance income by client in a spreadsheet
General information about using spreadsheets, not financial, tax or accounting advice. Example numbers are invented. Categories are for tracking and do not say what is deductible.