Photography Business Profit Tracker

Photography Business Profit Tracker Excel with shoot pricing, package margins, expenses by category, and a monthly P and L dashboard. Know what every shoot actually made — and which package actually pays.

Built for freelance photographers, portrait and wedding photographers, and small studios who need to know, shoot by shoot and month by month, whether the price covers the gear, the travel, and the hours — without accounting software. If a shoot type is eating your time for little money, this workbook shows it before the next booking.

WHAT'S INCLUDED (6 sheets):

- Shoots and Sessions — date, client, shoot type, hours, price, cost, profit per shoot, and profit per hour for every session. Cost is the second shooter, travel, prints, assistant, or anything else that shoot cost you. Totals show revenue, hours, and average price per shoot.

- Packages — package name, what's included, price, cost per booking, margin in dollars and percent, bookings, total revenue, and total margin. See which package actually pays, not just which one books most often.

- Gear and Expenses — every business expense by category: gear, software, travel, marketing, and other. Category totals show where the money goes — gear is the biggest category in the example.

- Monthly P and L — revenue, shoot costs, and gear and expenses by month, Jan-Dec, with net profit, margin, and profit per hour. All formulas from sheets 1 and 3.

- Dashboard — total revenue, expenses, net profit and margin, total shoots and hours, average price per shoot, profit per hour, best shoot type, best package, and costs by category.

- Cover and How to Use — start here. Yellow cells are the only ones you edit.

EXAMPLE DATA (Jan-Oct 2026 — replace with your own numbers):

- Total revenue 27,300 from 22 shoots and 89 hours; average price per shoot 1,240.91. Shoot costs 3,615; shoot profit 23,685; shoot profit per hour 266.12.

- Gear and expenses 5,650: Gear 3,125, Software 540, Travel 495, Marketing 890, Other 600. Total expenses 9,265; net profit 18,035; net margin 66.1 percent; net profit per hour 202.64.

- Packages: 18 bookings, package revenue 22,550, package total margin 19,680. Average package price 1,191.67, average margin 1,046.67, average margin 88.1 percent.

- Best shoot type: Wedding — 5 shoots, revenue 16,500, profit 14,290. Best package: The Wedding Day — 5 bookings, revenue 16,000, total margin 13,900.

- October 2026: 2 shoots, 8 hours, revenue 1,875, profit 1,345, profit per hour 168.13. November and December have no shoots in the example and show 0 on the P and L.

- Package bookings in the example match the shoot log by type. Events and newborns have no package, and a few shoots were custom-priced, so package revenue is lower than shoot revenue.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Download the Excel file instantly after purchase.

2. On sheet 1, log every shoot: date, client, shoot type, hours, price, and cost. Profit and profit per hour fill in by formula.

3. On sheet 2, enter each package's price and cost per booking, plus how many times you booked it. Margin and total revenue follow by formula.

4. On sheet 3, log every expense with its category — gear, software, travel, marketing, or other.

5. Check profit per hour on the Dashboard monthly. If it is falling, raise prices or cut the lowest-margin shoot type.

HOW THE NUMBERS WORK:

Profit per shoot is price minus cost. Profit per hour is profit divided by hours. Package margin is price minus cost per booking; total margin is margin times bookings. Net profit is revenue minus shoot costs minus gear and expenses. Net margin is net profit divided by revenue.

WHO IT'S FOR:

Freelance photographers, wedding and portrait photographers, family and newborn photographers, real estate photographers, and small studios who want shoot profit, package margins, expenses, and a monthly P and L in one workbook — without accounting software.

PLEASE NOTE:

- This is a digital download. No physical item will be shipped.

- Works in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets (upload to Google Drive to open in Sheets).

- Example data for Jan-Oct 2026 is included (22 shoots, 6 packages, 21 expense lines). Replace it with your own numbers.

- The example is simplified: the example photographer works from home with no studio rent, so the example margin is higher than a fully-loaded studio month.

- This is a bookkeeping and planning tool only, not tax, legal, or CPA advice.

- Due to the nature of digital downloads, refunds are not available. Message me before buying if you have a question.

Built by an accountant: B.S. Accountancy, ASU W. P. Carey, with revenue-reconciliation experience at Marriott and audit work at PwC.