Turn quarterly taxes into a routine: track net profit, project the annual bill, divide by four, and set money aside as each client payment arrives.
Freelancers rarely receive a neat quarterly tax bill. The practical system is to track income and deductible expenses all year, project the annual tax from current profit, divide the estimate into quarterly payments, and move a set-aside share into a separate account as money arrives. Waiting until the quarter ends turns a predictable obligation into a cash-flow emergency.
The free Freelance Tax Estimator is a planning calculator. It uses the inputs and federal structure described on the calculator page. The companion Freelancer Income & Expense Template keeps the records behind the estimate: an Income Log, Expense Log, monthly P&L Dashboard, Client Summary, and Tax Estimate sheet.
Keep the estimate current. A strong first quarter followed by a weak second quarter should change the projection; a single annual guess made in January will not stay useful for long.
Log an invoice when it is sent and mark it Paid when money arrives; unpaid amounts appear automatically. Log each business cost by category and mark whether it is deductible. The dashboard builds monthly income, expenses, and net profit from the logs, while the Tax Estimate sheet applies the rates you enter to estimate self-employment, federal, and state tax and the quarterly payment.
The spreadsheet’s Tax Estimate is a planning estimate using your entered rates. Its product notes state that it does not include the standard deduction, credits, or state-specific rules. The free calculator is also an estimate, not tax advice. Use either tool for cash planning and bring the clean P&L to your own tax preparer for filing decisions.
The $29 Freelancer Income & Expense Template includes the Income Log, Expense Log, P&L Dashboard, Tax Estimate, and Client Summary. It works in Excel and Google Sheets, with yellow cells marking the cells you edit.
There is no universal percentage. Estimate the projected total tax, divide by gross income to get a working set-aside percentage, and recalculate as profit changes.
In the template example, it is the projected annual tax divided by four. Your actual payment decision should reflect current income, prior payments, safe-harbor considerations, and advice from your tax preparer.
No. It organizes income and expenses and produces a planning estimate and tax-ready P&L. It does not prepare or file a return.
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