Does PlainBooks work for freelancer / consultant?

Yes. PlainBooks is general-ledger bookkeeping software — workspaces, chart of accounts, journal entries, period close, bank reconciliation, the full report set (Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, GL detail, AR aging, AP aging, 1099 summary). The freelancer / consultant-specific copy on this page describes the accounts and bills that matter most in this vertical.

$15/month or $150/year when signups open. One price, all features, no tiers. Signups aren't open yet — leave your email on the home page and we'll send one note when launch happens.

Do I need to connect a bank account?

No. PlainBooks does not ingest bank feeds. You post journal entries directly (and for trucking workspaces, trips and state-mileage entries write the underlying entries automatically). If you want bank-fed cash visibility, that's a different category of tool.

What about cash-flow forecasting?

On the roadmap, not in the current build. PlainBooks today shows what your books say — current balances, what's open in AR and AP, what's posted, what's pending close. We don't promise features that aren't built.

For independent freelancers + consultants.

Schedule C bookkeeping that closes clean every December.

Each Stripe / PayPal / Wise deposit gets a journal entry. Estimated taxes accrue as a liability so the quarterly is paid from money that was always the IRS's. Owner draws post to equity, not expenses. Schedule C is one report at year-end.

Start your 14-day free trial See how PlainBooks works

No card required · $15/mo after trial · 30-day money-back

Tax-set-aside math

At 25–30% of income owed in quarterly estimated taxes, that share of your last deposit is not yours. PlainBooks tracks a running set-aside balance so you see the IRS's money separately from your operating cash — and the quarterly check is not a panic.

Bench-time runway

Between two engagements is a 4–6 week stretch where bills keep auto-debiting but no deposits land. PlainBooks shows the runway date — the week your balance dips into the red — so the gap is something you plan around, not something that surprises you in week 3.

Subscription creep visibility

Adobe, Figma, GitHub, AWS, Notion, Slack, Zoom, Canva, Google Workspace. Some annual, most monthly, all forgettable. PlainBooks tallies them as one rolling number so you can decide what is actually pulling weight and what is bench-time bleed.

Where the books get messy

The Stripe deposit lands Tuesday — $4,800 from the project that closed last month. The bank balance jumps. You feel rich for about six hours. Then you remember: roughly $1,300 of that is owed to the IRS at the next quarterly estimate. Health insurance debits the 7th. Three software subscriptions hit between the 10th and the 19th. The retirement transfer you committed to last year is supposed to happen this month. Q3 estimated tax is due September 15.

The math is fine if you do the math. Most freelancers do not, because the math lives in five different places — bank, Stripe dashboard, accountant's email, retirement-account portal, the IRS calendar.

What PlainBooks does

PlainBooks gives you the books — a chart of accounts shaped for a solo freelancer or consultant, the journal where each Stripe / PayPal / Wise / ACH deposit, each subscription debit, each estimated-tax payment, and each owner draw writes a balanced entry, and a period close that locks each month or quarter.

Estimated taxes get their own liability account (Estimated Taxes Payable). When you set aside 25–30% of a deposit, PlainBooks posts an accrual entry into the liability. When you pay Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4, the liability reverses against Cash. The Balance Sheet always shows what is set aside and what is still owed.

Owner draws to your personal account post to the Owner Draw equity account — not to expenses. The P&L stays an honest measure of business performance. Your Schedule C at year-end is one report away.

When the year closes

Close December and PlainBooks generates the closing entries. The annual PDF package — Trial Balance, P&L (mapped to Schedule C line by line: Gross Receipts, Returns, Cost of Goods if any, Expenses by category), Balance Sheet, GL detail, 1099 summary of every contractor you paid — comes out in one file. Your CPA drops it straight into a return.

PlainBooks does not file your taxes, send invoices, chase clients, or track project hours. FreshBooks, Stripe Invoicing, Harvest, QuickBooks Self-Employed do those. PlainBooks records what cleared the bank and produces the books the rest of the workflow needs.

Bills you can't afford to forget

PlainBooks puts each one on the same calendar as your real bank balance, so you see the collision before it happens.

Quarterly estimated taxes
Apr 15 · Jun 15 · Sep 15 · Jan 15
25–30% of net income
Health insurance
Monthly
$400–$800
Software stack
Monthly, staggered
$200–$500
Retirement contribution (SEP/Solo 401k)
Annual or scheduled
Up to ~20% of net
Owner draw to personal
Monthly or per-project
Your target
Accountant / CPA fees
Annual + project
$300–$2,000/yr

The April 15 triple-crunch

Q1 is the slowest quarter for most freelancers. April 15 is also when the prior year's tax balance is due and the first quarterly estimate for the new year lands. That is three bad things in the same week: low income, an annual reconciliation, and a fresh estimated payment. PlainBooks shows the April 15 cash position six months out, drawn from the actual set-aside balance and the recent deposit pattern. The week is on the calendar in October, not on April 14.

25–30%

of every deposit owed in tax

What PlainBooks doesn't do

Honest about scope. If you need any of these, you need different software.

File your taxes — PlainBooks shows what is set aside; you or your CPA files
Send invoices or chase clients — FreshBooks, Stripe Invoicing, QuickBooks Self-Employed
Track project hours or scope — Harvest, Toggl, Notion
Calculate quarterly estimated tax. Your CPA or QuickBooks does the math; PlainBooks reflects the resulting cash impact honestly.

Ready to see your cash position?

$15/month or $150/year (two months free). 14-day free trial. No card required.

Start your free trial

Common questions

Does PlainBooks work for freelancer / consultant?: Yes. PlainBooks is general-ledger bookkeeping software — workspaces, chart of accounts, journal entries, period close, bank reconciliation, the full report set (Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, GL detail, AR aging, AP aging, 1099 summary). The freelancer / consultant-specific copy on this page describes the accounts and bills that matter most in this vertical.
What does it cost?: $15/month or $150/year when signups open. One price, all features, no tiers. Signups aren't open yet — leave your email on the home page and we'll send one note when launch happens.
Do I need to connect a bank account?: No. PlainBooks does not ingest bank feeds. You post journal entries directly (and for trucking workspaces, trips and state-mileage entries write the underlying entries automatically). If you want bank-fed cash visibility, that's a different category of tool.
What about cash-flow forecasting?: On the roadmap, not in the current build. PlainBooks today shows what your books say — current balances, what's open in AR and AP, what's posted, what's pending close. We don't promise features that aren't built.