Clients & SOWs
One record per client with the signed SOW, retainer invoice, and project invoices.
Web development · Finance organizing
A finance workspace for freelance web and software developers
AWS one month, a Vercel bill the next, domain renewals you forgot existed, GitHub and IDE licenses, and the occasional sub-developer invoice — your costs are a thicket of recurring tooling. On top of that, some hosting you pay for is really your client's, billed straight back to them. Cash Workspace gives you one place to record those expenses, track retainers and project invoices, and keep pass-through hosting separate from your own stack.
The problem
Why developer finances get messy
Dev spending is recurring, multi-vendor, and partly pass-through, so it's hard to tell your own tooling apart from client costs you'll bill back.
- Hosting bills (AWS, Vercel, DigitalOcean) arrive at odd intervals and never get recorded.
- A client's hosting is on your card, but it's not clear which costs you'll bill back.
- Domain renewals auto-charge and disappear from view until they lapse.
- A sub-developer's invoice for a project sits in email, not with that project's costs.
- Retainers and one-off project invoices blur together with no clear status.
The workflow
Keep dev finances organized
Record tooling, hosting, and invoices the same way so your own costs and pass-through costs stay separate.
- 1
Add each client
Create a client record and attach the signed statement of work (SOW).
- 2
Record retainers and project invoices
Log retainer and project invoices with amount, due date, and status.
- 3
Categorize tooling and hosting
Record hosting, domains, dev SaaS, and contractor fees with vendor, amount, and receipt.
- 4
Flag pass-through costs
Note when a hosting cost is a client's pass-through, so it's separate from your own tooling.
- 5
File by fiscal year
Keep hosting invoices and SOWs in fiscal-year folders for review.
Record structure
What to record for each cost and invoice
A consistent field set keeps your stack, client pass-throughs, and invoices reconcilable.
- Client / project
- Who or what the work is for, kept as one record.
- Invoice type
- Retainer or project invoice, with paid/unpaid status.
- Expense category
- Hosting/cloud, domain renewal, dev SaaS, API/plugin, sub-developer fee.
- Own vs pass-through
- Whether the cost is your tooling or a client's hosting you'll bill back.
- Vendor
- AWS, Vercel, DigitalOcean, GitHub, the registrar, the subcontractor.
- Amount and date
- What you paid and when, for the right fiscal period.
- SOW or hosting invoice
- Attached signed SOW or hosting invoice for the record.
- Fiscal year
- Which year the cost belongs to for clean review.
Example setup
An example developer finance setup
One way to keep your own tooling apart from client pass-through hosting.
My tooling
GitHub, IDE licenses, and dev SaaS recorded as your own costs each cycle.
Pass-through hosting
Client hosting paid on your card, flagged as billable back to the client.
Domains & renewals
Domain registrar renewals recorded with dates so none lapse unnoticed.
Common mistakes
Mistakes developers make
- Mixing client pass-through hosting in with your own tooling so nothing's clearly billable.
- Letting domain renewals auto-charge until a domain lapses by surprise.
- Never recording cloud bills because they arrive at irregular intervals.
- Leaving a sub-developer's invoice in email instead of with the project's costs.
- Treating retainers and project invoices as one undifferentiated pile.
How it helps
How Cash Workspace helps
Retainers and projects tracked
Record retainer and project invoices per client with clear paid/unpaid status.
Pass-through kept separate
Flag client hosting as pass-through so it never blends into your own tooling.
Tooling categories
Categorize hosting, domains, dev SaaS, and contractor fees with receipts attached.
SOWs attached to clients
Attach each signed statement of work to its client so scope and billing stay together.
Related
Related developer finance workflows
SaaS subscription organizer
Keep every recurring dev tool recorded with its renewal date.
Web developer invoice tracker
Track retainer and project invoices by status.
Dev agency expense organizer
Scale the setup to an agency with multiple developers.
Retainer records workflow
Keep retainer billing organized month to month.
All finance workflows
Browse the full Cash Workspace workflow library.
FAQ
Developer finance workspace FAQ
- How do I separate my tooling from client hosting?
- Flag each cost as your own tooling or a client pass-through and note which client it belongs to. That keeps billable hosting distinct from your own subscriptions when you review or bill.
- Can I track retainers and one-off projects together?
- Yes. Record each as its own invoice with a type and status, so retainer income and project income stay clearly labeled in one place.
- Does Cash Workspace connect to AWS or my bank to pull bills?
- No. Cash Workspace does not sync with your bank or any cloud provider. You record each cost and attach the invoice yourself, and the workspace keeps it organized.
Organizing help — not tax, accounting, or legal guidance
Cash Workspace is a free workspace for organizing invoices, expenses, receipts, clients, and documents. This page is organizing guidance only — not tax, accounting, legal, or bookkeeping guidance. Cash Workspace does not connect to your bank, does not scan or read your receipts for you, and does not move or collect payments. Whether an expense is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional.
Untangle your dev costs and invoices
Start a free workspace and record this month's hosting bills, your retainers, and your client pass-throughs in one place, so your own costs and billable costs stay clear.