My accountant cousin told me to just 'track everything in a spreadsheet' and now I owe $4k more than I should

Last March my cousin who's been doing taxes forever said I was overthinking it and to just dump all my gig income into a Google Sheet. No categories, just total. I followed his advice for 6 months and missed so many write-offs for my home office, mileage, and equipment. Now I'm scrambling to recreate receipts from Venmo and PayPal. Anyone else get burned by bad advice from a family member who 'knows better'?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.luna2d ago

This whole situation reminds me of a pattern I keep seeing everywhere. People give advice based on what worked for them without realizing their situation is totally different. Your cousin probably handles straightforward W-2 income where a simple total actually works fine, but gig work has all these moving parts that need separate tracking. It's like asking someone who drives a sedan how to maintain a delivery van. The principles might overlap but the specific needs are completely different. I see this with friends too - someone who works a normal 9-5 giving business advice to a freelancer, or a renter telling a homeowner how to budget for repairs. The details matter way more than people think.

brooke_murray3d ago

QuickBooks self-employed app saved me. Cost like $15 a month but worth every penny for the mileage tracking alone. It splits categories automatically. I learned the hard way too after missing home office deductions my first year. Now I take a picture of every receipt the same day. Makes tax time a breeze.

henry_anderson543d ago

I read somewhere that the IRS actually expects gig workers to track stuff by category, not just totals. Your cousin probably meant well but that's just bad advice for self-employment taxes.