Trading Expense Ledger

A standalone, offline-first HTML app for tracking futures and prop trading expenses with tax-time supporting details.

What It Tracks

• Date paid and tax year
• Expense, refund, or reimbursement type
• Category, payee/vendor, item or service, and business purpose
• Payment method
• Receipt/proof status and receipt reference
• Deductibility review status
• Notes for allocations, subscription periods, or CPA questions

Trading Categories

The app includes common trading-expense categories:

• Prop firm evaluation fees
• Prop firm resets
• Account activation and monthly account fees
• Market data and exchange fees
• Trading platform software
• Trading journal tools
• VPS and cloud services
• News and research subscriptions
• Education and coaching
• Professional services
• Internet and home office allocation
• Hardware and equipment
• Bank, wire, and payment fees
• Refunds and credits

You can also type a custom category.

Features

• Offline app: The tracker is a single HTML file with no external scripts or CDN dependencies.
• Local storage: Entries are stored in your browser on your device.
• Legacy migration: Older futuresExpenses records are migrated into the richer v2 schema.
• Ledger workflows: Add, edit, copy, delete, and undo deleted entries.
• Filters: Filter by tax year, category, deductibility status, or search text.
• Top-bar CSV downloads: Download all entries, a selected month, or a selected tax year.
• Receipt index: Generate receipt filename/path suggestions, copy receipt filenames, and group receipt work by month and category.
• Tax review fields: Mark entries as needs review, likely deductible, partial/allocation, not deductible, or reimbursed.
• Proof checklist: Track whether a receipt is missing, named but not verified, stored, linked, on a statement, or not needed.
• Exports: Export filtered CSV for tax review or bookkeeping, and JSON backup for full data recovery.
• Imports: Import JSON backups and merge them with existing records.

Getting Started

1. Open futures-expense-tracker.html in your browser.
2. Add an entry using the form.
3. Keep receipts, statements, invoices, and payment confirmations in an organized folder.
4. Use the suggested receipt path or copy the suggested filename when saving proof files.
5. Use the receipt reference field to point to the matching proof.
6. Use the top Download control to export all entries, one month, or one tax year.
7. Export a JSON backup regularly.
8. Export CSV when preparing records for a spreadsheet, accountant, or tax software.

Receipt Indexing

The app does not store PDFs, screenshots, or images in browser storage. Instead, it generates consistent filenames and paths so your receipts can live in a normal folder, cloud drive, or encrypted backup.

Suggested filename format:

YYYY-MM-DD_vendor_category_amount.pdf

Example:

2026-05-16_topstep_prop-firm-evaluation-fees_199.00.pdf

Suggested folder convention:

Trading Expenses/
  2026/
    05/
      receipts/
      statements/
      exports/

The receipt index groups proof work by month and category. Use Named but not verified when you have assigned a filename/path but still need to confirm the file exists in your receipt folder.

CSV Downloads

Use the top Download controls to export:

• All entries
• One selected month
• One selected tax year

CSV exports include receipt filename/path suggestions so bookkeeping and receipt cleanup can happen from the same spreadsheet.

Data Storage

All ledger data is stored in browser localStorage under futuresExpenseTracker.v2. That keeps the app simple and private, but it also means your records depend on that browser profile.

Recommended habit:

• Export a JSON backup after each recordkeeping session.
• Store backups somewhere durable, such as an encrypted cloud drive or external backup.
• Keep receipts and statements outside the browser, organized by tax year, month, and proof type.

Tax Note

This app is for recordkeeping only. It does not decide whether an expense is deductible, whether you qualify as a trader in securities, or how an expense should be reported. Use the deductibility status field as a review workflow and confirm the final treatment with a qualified tax professional.

IRS recordkeeping guidance generally expects records and supporting documents to identify things like payee, amount, proof of payment, date incurred or paid, and a description/business purpose. This tracker is designed to help collect those facts, but your supporting documents still matter.

Browser Compatibility

Works in modern browsers that support localStorage, Blob downloads, and FileReader:

• Chrome / Edge
• Firefox
• Safari

Privacy

The app itself does not send your expense data over the internet. It has no analytics, backend, or third-party script dependencies. Your browser and operating system still control local file downloads, imports, backups, and storage.