Expensorr for Virtual Assistants
Expensorr suits independent virtual assistants because it captures client-management software, platform fees, and project-specific purchases from a receipt photo or a spoken sentence, tags each one to the client it belongs to with labels, and separates a tool you run across every client from a cost tied to one retainer.
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An independent virtual assistant's expenses split into two kinds that get tracked very differently in practice: the project management tool, time tracker, and invoicing software you pay for whether or not any particular client is currently on retainer, and the platform fee or client-specific purchase that only exists because of one working relationship. Folding both into a single "VA expenses" total tells you what you spent, not whether a given retainer actually covers its share of the platform commission and software it took to deliver it.
Why a single "VA expenses" category breaks down
A category like "Software" or "Business Costs" gives you a total, not which client it served. If you're paying for a project management tool, a time tracker, and an invoicing platform across four retainer clients, "Software: $140/month" is true and useless on its own — it doesn't say whether your lowest-paying client is actually worth the administrative overhead it takes to serve them.
Expensorr separates categories from labels for exactly this reason. A category describes the kind of spending — software, platform fees, contractor costs. A label attaches who or what it was for — a client, a platform, a retainer. Your project management subscription can sit in the Software category with no client label at all, because it's genuine overhead, while a tool one client specifically requires you to use for their account carries that client's label and nothing else.
- Pay a platform fee, software renewal, or client-specific costUpwork or Fiverr commission, project management tools, a client-required app
- Photograph the receipt or forward the confirmation emailExpensorr drafts the merchant, date, and total
- Decide overhead or a specific clientUsed across every client, or required by one retainer
- Attach a client label if it's the latterThe category stays the same either way
What freelance platforms actually take
If you find clients through a marketplace rather than entirely through direct contracts, the platform's cut is one of the easiest costs to lose track of, because it's deducted before the money ever reaches you rather than billed separately. Upwork charges freelancers a variable service fee between 0% and 15% on marketplace contracts, shown upfront on each individual contract when you submit a proposal or receive an offer, and locked in for the life of that contract once signed, according to Upwork's own Freelancer Service Fee help article. Direct Contracts — where you bring an existing client onto Upwork yourself rather than finding them through the marketplace — carry a flat 5% fee instead, per the same article, or 0% if you're an active Freelancer Plus member. Fiverr takes a flat 20% commission on every completed order, including tips, with no tiers or reductions for volume or seller level, per Fiverr's own seller terms.
Neither commission is something Expensorr pulls in automatically — there's no integration with either platform — but recording it as an expense against the client income it came from is the only way to see what a retainer actually nets you once the platform's cut is out.
The software that piles up
Client management and invoicing. Dubsado's Starter plan is $335 a year, and its Premier plan — the tier that adds workflow automation and scheduling — is $525 a year, according to Dubsado's own pricing page. HoneyBook prices its Starter plan at $29 a month on either monthly or annual billing, with Essentials at $59 a month billed monthly or $49 a month billed annually, and Premium at $129 a month billed monthly or $109 a month billed annually, per HoneyBook's own pricing page. A renewal like either of these is a card charge and an email — easy to forget when you're totaling up what serving a specific client costs you against their retainer.
Project management. Asana's Starter plan is $13.49 per user per month billed monthly, or $10.99 per user per month billed annually, and its Advanced tier is $30.49 monthly or $24.99 annually, according to Asana's own pricing page; a Personal plan covering up to two users is free. Whether this is overhead or a client-specific cost usually comes down to one question: would you keep paying for it if every client using that workspace left tomorrow?
Time tracking. Toggl Track offers a free plan for a limited number of users, with its Starter plan at $9 per user per month and Premium at $16 per user per month, per Toggl's own pricing page. A client who insists you log hours in a specific tool is a reasonable case for a client label; a time tracker you use for your own billing across every client is overhead.
A client-required tool. Some clients mandate a specific CRM seat, a particular file-sharing plan, or access to their own paid software — a cost that exists only because of that one working relationship, and the clearest case for a label of all of these.
Overhead versus a specific client
Would you still be paying for this tool or fee if this one client stopped sending you work tomorrow?
Getting this right matters more than getting every category perfect. Label your Asana subscription to every client and each one looks more expensive to serve than they are; leave a platform's commission on one client's contract unlabeled and that client looks more profitable than they actually were when you're deciding whether to renew the retainer.
Before you invoice a client or close out the month
- Every platform commission for the period is recorded against that client's incomeUpwork and Fiverr deduct it before payout, which makes it easy to forget entirely
- Software a specific client requires is labeled to themCheck your card statement, not just what you remember signing up for
- A client-mandated tool or seat is captured as a cost of that retainerSmall recurring charges add up across a year and are easy to lose track of individually
- Receipt and invoice confirmations are actually attached, not sitting in an inboxA renewal email you meant to log later usually doesn't get logged
Capturing it without slowing down client work
None of this is worth doing if it takes longer than the admin work you're being paid for. Photograph a receipt or forward a confirmation email and Expensorr extracts the merchant, date, total, and a suggested category into a draft you confirm — a few seconds between tasks, not a separate bookkeeping session later. For a cost with no receipt at all, say what you spent and Expensorr parses the sentence instead. How to track expenses from receipts covers that capture step in more detail than fits here.
What this does not solve
Being direct, because a VA evaluating this should know before installing, not after: Expensorr does not connect to your bank, Upwork, Fiverr, or any platform, so a commission deduction or a software renewal has to be scanned, spoken, imported, or typed in — nothing arrives on its own. It does not file taxes or calculate what's deductible; it keeps the record your accountant works from. And it has no invoicing or client billing system of its own — it tracks what serving a client cost you, not what you've billed them.
Cost
Every feature described here — labels, wallets, receipt scanning, voice capture — is free on both tiers. The free plan includes 20 AI receipt scans or voice captures a month, which comfortably covers a VA renewing a handful of software subscriptions and logging the occasional platform fee; Premium removes that cap and changes nothing else.
Where to start
Expensorr for freelancers covers the broader case for solo, client-billed work if virtual assistant work is one of several things you do. Expensorr for consultants covers a similar overhead-versus-engagement split for a different kind of client relationship. Expense tracking for freelancers has the weekly routine that keeps several retainers' costs from piling up between reviews, and expense categories that actually work covers the category setup this post builds on before you start labeling clients on top of it.
Sources, checked on 1 October 2026: Upwork's Freelancer Service Fee help article for the 0–15% variable marketplace fee and 5% Direct Contract fee; Fiverr's seller terms for the flat 20% commission on completed orders; Dubsado's pricing page for the Starter plan at $335/year and Premier at $525/year; HoneyBook's pricing page for Starter at $29/month, Essentials at $59/month billed monthly or $49/month billed annually, and Premium at $129/month billed monthly or $109/month billed annually; Asana's pricing page for Starter at $13.49/user/month billed monthly or $10.99 billed annually, and Advanced at $30.49 or $24.99; Toggl Track's pricing page for Starter at $9/user/month and Premium at $16/user/month. Expensorr's capabilities and limitations are as recorded on this site. Third-party prices and fees change; verify before you budget around them.
Frequently asked questions
Does Expensorr track the commission Upwork or Fiverr takes from my pay?
No. Expensorr has no integration with Upwork, Fiverr, or any freelance marketplace, so a platform fee isn't pulled in automatically. You can record the net amount that actually lands in your account as income, or record the full client payment and the platform's cut as a separate expense — either way, the fee has to be entered yourself.
Can I keep one client's software costs separate from my general VA overhead?
Yes, with labels. A tool you'd keep paying for regardless of which clients you currently have, like your own project management subscription, stays unlabeled overhead. A tool a specific client requires you to use, or a cost tied to one retainer, gets that client's label.
Does Expensorr calculate what an hour of VA work actually nets me after platform fees?
No. It has no per-client profit calculator. It lets you record the fee and the income as separate transactions so you can see both, but working out your effective hourly rate after a platform's cut is still on you.
I work with clients both through Upwork and direct contracts I found myself — can I separate those?
Yes, with labels. A cost or fee specific to one arrangement, like an Upwork service fee on a marketplace contract, gets a label for that client or platform. Software you use across every client, like your calendar or time tracker, stays unlabeled.
Is this worth it if I only have one or two retainer clients?
Probably not for the AI capture volume alone — at that pace you'll likely stay well inside the free plan's 20 AI scans a month. The value is more in labels keeping a software renewal or a client-specific purchase from blurring into a single "business expenses" total when you're deciding whether a retainer still pays for itself.
Track expenses without the data entry
Every Expensorr feature is free, including unlimited wallets, budgets, labels, splits, and 75 currencies. The free plan includes 20 AI receipt scans or voice captures a month. Pro lifts that limit for $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year and changes nothing else.
