Owned gear — 2026
Bodies, lenses, and lighting bought this year, each with receipt and warranty attached.
Photography business · Equipment costs
Keep every gear purchase, repair, and rental in one record
A camera body, a couple of lenses, a lighting kit, the odd drone, plus sensor cleanings and rental gear for the big jobs — photography gear adds up fast and the receipts vanish even faster. When write-off review comes, you're guessing what you spent. Cash Workspace lets you record each piece of equipment with its vendor, date, and amount, attach the receipt or warranty card, and keep owned gear separate from per-shoot rentals.
The problem
Why gear costs are so hard to pin down
Equipment spending is high-value, occasional, and spread across vendors and rental houses, so receipts go missing exactly when an accountant wants them.
- A $2,000 lens receipt is in your email, but you can't find it nine months later.
- Rented gear for one wedding gets mixed in with gear you actually own.
- Repairs and sensor cleanings never get recorded as costs at all.
- Warranty cards are gone, so a body that fails has no proof of purchase.
- You can't tell an accountant your total equipment spend without scrolling through statements.
The workflow
Log gear the same way every time
Record each purchase, rental, and repair as it happens so equipment costs are ready to review by fiscal year.
- 1
Record the purchase
Add the gear with vendor, date, amount, and category (body, lens, lighting, accessory).
- 2
Attach the proof
Attach the receipt and warranty card so purchase proof stays with the cost.
- 3
Tag owned vs rented
Note whether it's owned gear or a per-shoot rental so the two never blur together.
- 4
Record repairs
Log sensor cleanings and repairs as their own expenses against the body they relate to.
- 5
Group by fiscal year
File equipment records in the fiscal-year folder so an accountant can review costs against income.
Record structure
What to record for each piece of gear
A few consistent fields turn a pile of receipts into a reviewable equipment list.
- Item
- What it is, e.g. 'Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8' or 'Godox AD600 strobe'.
- Category
- Camera body, lens, tripod, lighting, drone, accessory, or repair.
- Owned or rented
- Whether you bought it or rented it for a specific shoot.
- Vendor
- Where it came from, e.g. B&H, a local rental house, the repair center.
- Amount and date
- What you paid and when, for the right fiscal year.
- Receipt
- The attached receipt so the spend has proof.
- Warranty card
- Attached warranty or serial info for bodies and lenses.
- Related shoot
- For rentals, the job it was for, so cost and income line up for review.
Example setup
An example gear-tracking setup
One way to split owned equipment from rentals and repairs inside your workspace.
Rental gear by shoot
Per-shoot rentals recorded against the job they were used for.
Repairs & maintenance
Sensor cleanings and repairs logged against the body they relate to.
Warranty & serials
Attached warranty cards and serial numbers for insurance and proof of purchase.
Common mistakes
Mistakes to avoid with gear tracking
- Lumping rented gear in with owned gear so equipment totals are wrong.
- Never recording repairs and cleanings, so real costs go unaccounted for.
- Losing the warranty card, leaving a failed body with no proof of purchase.
- Recording the amount but not attaching the receipt to back it up.
- Waiting until year-end to reconstruct the whole list from card statements.
How it helps
How Cash Workspace helps
One equipment list
Record every body, lens, light, and accessory with vendor, date, and amount in one place.
Owned vs rented kept apart
Tag each record so per-shoot rentals never get mistaken for gear you own.
Receipts and warranties attached
Attach the receipt and warranty card to each item so proof of purchase stays with the cost.
Fiscal-year grouping
Keep a year's equipment records together so an accountant can review costs against income.
Related
Related photography finance workflows
Photographer finance workspace
The full setup for shoots, invoices, and gear in one place.
Photographer receipt organizer
File gear and supplier receipts by fiscal year.
Photography expense records
Organize all photography spending into reviewable categories.
Business receipt organizer
A general receipt-organizing method for any business.
All finance workflows
Browse the full Cash Workspace workflow library.
FAQ
Gear expense tracking FAQ
- How do I separate owned gear from rentals?
- Tag each record as owned or rented, and for rentals note the shoot it was for. That keeps your owned-equipment list and your per-shoot rental costs distinct when an accountant reviews them.
- Can I record repairs and maintenance too?
- Yes. Log sensor cleanings and repairs as their own expenses with vendor, date, and amount, and relate them to the body they apply to.
- Is gear automatically deductible?
- Whether equipment is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional. Cash Workspace simply keeps the records and receipts organized for that review.
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.
Stop losing gear receipts
Start a free workspace and record your next equipment purchase with its receipt attached, so write-off review is a list you already have, not a hunt through statements.