Hello there, autónomo friends! Here we are at the end of 2025, a year that has flown by, yet has felt like slogging through mud on some occasions. Most people I’ve talked to have said that this year – with a certain president who shall go unnamed – has felt like four years wrapped up into one. If you look at LinkedIn (which I always feel is a mistake when I do it), the year has been marked by an uncertain job market, freelance frustrations, and general doom and gloom. And watching the news? Let’s not even go there.

However, there’s still plenty to celebrate! In my case, I took on a new client company for English coaching which boosted my income. I finished my MBA (Master’s in Business Administration) after a long hard year of studying and projects. My project teammate and I even received an award for our Trabajo Fin de Master! 

Financially speaking, even though I earned a bit less than some previous years due to reducing my work hours, I still ended the year having saved a comfortable amount and taken on zero debt. I feel more financially secure having a good savings cushion – as we all know, autónomos face a lot of financial uncertainty! I squirreled away money most months for those possible future rainy days.

This is the perfect moment to give a shoutout to DEPÓSITOS! It’s not quite as lucrative as investing, but deposits pay you interest on your savings – at least more than your regular savings account, which might pay a few cents in interest per month. For those of us Americans here in Spain, many banks and investment platforms aren’t willing to let us invest because of tax and reporting complications. But if you already have a bank account, check out your savings options. You should have the option to open a deposit for 3 or 6 months. Every time the deposit period ends, you get a little money in your checking account. I have a few deposits with varying expiration dates, and I just got 14 euros for letting a chunk of money sit untouched for a few months! 

*Quick affiliate mention: If you don’t have a Spanish bank account or you’re looking to change, I’ve been very happy with Openbank. If you open an account with my link and deposit 300 euros, we both get 50 euros! Just email me if you’d like a referral link.

Libro de ingresos y gastos: Are your financial books up to date?

Moving on to more organizational things: how are you keeping track of your income and expenses? I wasn’t great at it at first, just tallying up my Social Security every quarter as my only expense, and adding up my invoices manually. But then I discovered more deductible business expenses around the same time I came across the Agencia Tributaria’s Libro de Registro which is just a fancy Excel spreadsheet where you list your invoices sent (income) and invoices received (expenses). And really, it was time to step up my game. Managing our autónomo books effectively involves maintaining accurate financial records, and this is absolutely crucial for our business’s health, not to mention avoiding issues with Hacienda. We really should be keeping all our business records organized, such as receipts and income statements, and ensuring they are backed up both physically and digitally to prevent loss. If you’re already doing this, good for you! If you need to level up your bookkeeping skills, keep reading.

I dug around on the Hacienda website to pull up the Libro de Registro and downloaded the relevant file. It has three tabs at the bottom: Ingresos, Gastos and Inversión. (Inversión is for things like computers or equipment that have to be amortized over time.) 

This is the original and more complicated version that you have to manually add rows to, but it comes with some useful instructions. (Link to create your own) 

You can see my example of the Ingresos tab, where you need to fill in the year, the quarter (1T, 2T, etc.), and information related to your economic activity: the Código A (ACTIVIDADES INCLUIDAS EN EL I.A.E.), Tipo 03 (03: Resto de actividades empresariales no incluidas en los dos subtipos anteriores) and your Epígrafe which you should know from when you registered as autónomo. Using the instructions lower on the screen, you can use the corresponding codes to fill in the rest of the columns – scroll to the right, there are a lot of them! 

I found an example Libro which shows a simpler and cleaner version, much easier to edit, and I may try using this one in 2026 just to see how it feels. (Link to create your own)  

This example is for Gastos, and you can see in the seventh column Concepto de Gasto some different codes starting with G.

How do you enter autónomo expenses with the correct codes?

There are a few different lists of codes floating around the internet and I’ve actually been confused as to which is the most up to date. Below is the list taken directly from the original Hacienda Excel file. I’ve highlighted the ones I use most frequently as a language teacher. 

. “G01″: Compra de existencias
. “G02”: Variación de existencias (disminución de existencias finales)
. “G03”: Otros consumos de explotación
. “G04”: Sueldos y salarios
. “G05”: Seguridad Social a cargo de la empresa
. “G06”: Seguridad Social y Aportaciones a mutualidades alternativas del titular de la actividad
. “G45”: Seguridad Social del titular de la actividad(se admite G06 hasta 1T 2024) –> Social Security payments
. “G46”: Aportaciones a mutualidades alternativas del titular de la actividad (se admite G06 hasta 1T 2024)
. “G07”: Indemnizaciones
. “G08”: Dietas y asignaciones de viajes del personal empleado
. “G09”: Aportaciones a sistemas de previsión social imputadas al personal empleado
. “G10”: Otros gastos de personal –> Educational expenses for education related to your economic activity. I included my MBA expenses, as an MBA is very relevant for self-employed workers. 

. “G11”: Gastos de manutención del contribuyente (artículo 30.2.5ª.c de la Ley del Impuesto)
. “G12”: Arrendamientos y cánones
. “G13”: Reparaciones y conservación
. “GY4″: Suministros (electricidad, agua, gas, telefonía e internet). Alternativamente se podrá consignar en su lugar:
– “G14”: Gastos por suministro eléctrico
– “G15”: Gastos por suministro de agua
– “G16”: Gastos por suministro de gas
– “G17”: Gastos por suministro de telefonía e internet
. “G18”: Otros suministros
. “G19”: Servicios de profesionales independientes–> This one would be used for auditors, notaries, gestores and other experts you might need to carry out your activity.

(G19) Alternativamente se consignarán en su lugar los correspondientes a:
– “G40”: Gastos de Formalización de Contratos
– “G41”: Gastos de Defensa Jurídica
– “G42”: Otras cantidades devengadas por terceros por servicios personales

. “G20”: Primas de seguros –> Health insurance premiums for private insurance, up to 500 euros per year are deductible. (Some internet lists show this code as G10 for general expenses.)
. “G22”: Otros servicios exteriores –> I use this one for my web hosting company and Calendly for appointment booking. 

(G22) Alternativamente se consignarán en su lugar los correspondientes a:
– “G44”: Gastos de Comunidad
. “G23”: Intereses de deudas
. “G24”: Otros gastos financieros
. “G25”: IVA soportado (recargo de equivalencia y/o recargo de agricultura, ganadería y pesca)
. “G26”: Otros tributos fiscalmente deducibles
. “GY8”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización del inmovilizado material. Alternativamente se podrá consignar en su lugar:
– “G27”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización de edificios
– “G28”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización de instalaciones, mobiliario, enseres y resto de inmovilizado material
– “G29”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización de maquinaria
– “G30”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización de elementos de transporte
– “G31”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización de equipos electrónicos e informáticos
– “G32”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización de útiles y herramientas
– “G33”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización de ganado y cultivos agrícolas amortizables
. “G38”: Dotaciones del ejercicio para amortización del inmovilizado inmaterial
. “G34”: Pérdidas por insolvencias de deudores
. “G35”: Incentivos al mecenazgo. Convenios de colaboración en actividades de interés general
. “G36”: Incentivos al mecenazgo. Gastos en actividades de interés general
. “G43”: Saldos de dudoso cobro
. “G37”: Otros conceptos fiscalmente deducibles (excepto provisiones)
. “G39”: Provisiones fiscalmente deducibles

Spanish government platform for digital invoices

But wait…. isn’t a special software platform for digital invoices now starting to be mandatory? Almost! 

VeriFactu is the government’s new system for digitally creating and managing invoices. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I plan to start 2026 with the new system. Apparently it was going to be mandatory starting in 2026, but as most websites and platforms related to the Spanish government, there are still issues to work out so they can’t require us to use it yet. In formal-sounding language:

De acuerdo con la modificación introducida por el Real Decreto-ley 15/2025, de 2 de diciembre, se amplía el plazo que tienen los obligados tributarios para adaptar sus sistemas informáticos de facturación (SIF) a los requisitos del Reglamento de sistemas informáticos de facturación (RRSIF).

En base a los nuevos plazos aprobados, las entidades que presenten el Impuesto sobre Sociedades deberán tener adaptados sus SIF antes del 1 de enero de 2027. El resto de obligados tributarios, antes del 1 de julio de 2027. (Source)

That translates to, for the majority of us, July 1st, 2027. For now, definitely keep tracking your invoices and keeping all your digital files in order.

In-depth budgeting and forecasting: really level up your financial skills!

How else can you kick off the new year with a better view of your finances?

In my Autónomo Setup Kit I include a simple budget to organize your spending categories. However, I use a much more advanced spreadsheet + Google Form that I adopted after using YNAB (an incredible app!) but ultimately deciding not to spend $100 a year on subscription fees.

I can point you to the budget and instructions on Reddit – you really need to follow ALL the instructions step by step for it to work properly. Here’s a tiny glimpse of my budget categories. I even have a group of categories called Gastos Deducibles to separate my business expenses more clearly. 

It’s an incredible spreadsheet set up to calculate extremely well. To get the most out of it, pair it with a Google Form like the instructions suggest. If you try it, feel free to reach out with issues – I understand it can be hard to get used to at first!

What are you doing to set yourself up for financial health in 2026?

Wishing you a fantastic new year full of health and prosperity!