If you're producing an independent film or documentary, your executive producers will eventually ask for a cost report — one clean document showing how the money was actually spent. ExpenseBot builds it for you from the receipts you've already been collecting, so there's nothing to re-enter.
If your crew agreed to deferred pay (less upfront in exchange for a share of revenue later), this is also the document that proves the budget went into the production — the artifact execs look at before approving those payouts.
What you get
A polished Google Sheet you can share, print, or save as a PDF, including:
- Cost summary — your total spend, broken into the four phases producers expect: creative team (above the line), production, post-production, and overhead.
- Year-by-year spend — essential for productions that ran across multiple years.
- Top vendors — your biggest suppliers at a glance (camera houses, rentals, post facilities, and so on).
- Cancellations caught — purchase-and-refund pairs (a cancelled flight, returned gear) are flagged so nothing gets double-counted.
- Anything needing a second look — receipts that don't clearly fit are listed separately so you can tidy them before you send.
- Signature line — a declaration row to sign and date for your records.
Making a documentary? The report adds the buckets only docs need — payments to subjects, archive and footage licensing, translation of foreign-language interviews, and research.
Turn it on (one-time setup)
- Sign in to ExpenseBot and open Settings.
- Find "Track for a specific use case" and activate "Documentary / Indie Film Producer."
- Enter your production name, the date range it covers, and whether it's a documentary, narrative, or commercial.
Generate your report
- Open your Production Cost Report — the "View report" button on that same use-case card, or from My Reports.
- Set the date range to cover your whole production (for example, your first year of spending through today).
- Click Preview to see your total spend, the phase breakdown, and anything flagged for review.
- Click Generate — your report opens as a Google Sheet in a new tab.
- Share it, print it, or save it as a PDF (File → Download → PDF) for your executive producers.
- Sign and date the declaration line at the bottom, and keep a copy with your production records.
If anything looks off when you open it, just reply to any ExpenseBot email and we'll fix it on our side.
Why filmmakers use it
Traditional budgeting tools make you log every expense against a budget line as you go, and most cost hundreds of dollars or a monthly subscription. ExpenseBot builds the same executive-producer cost report straight from the receipts already in your inbox — no manual entry, no new software to learn.
Related guides
- Freelancer solution — most indie filmmakers file as sole proprietors; this covers the tax-filing side.
- Quarterly estimated taxes — paying as you earn when you're self-employed.
- Year-End Tax Workbook — combines your cost report with your year-end tax filing.