Expense tracking for locums

As an AHPRA-registered locum or independent contractor you carry your own overheads: AHPRA registration, professional indemnity, college fees, equipment, and the kilometres you drive between workplaces. Every legitimate work-related cost reduces your taxable income, so the difference between a tidy record and a shoebox of faded receipts is real money at lodgement.

Sessional's expense log sits on the Free plan and above. It is built for the way Australian locums actually work: one running ledger across every agency, hospital, GP clinic, pharmacy, and direct engagement, rather than a separate spreadsheet per source. The totals flow straight into your tax planner and your earnings dashboard, so your deductible spend is always reflected in your reserve estimate.

The category picker leads with a Suggested group tuned to your profession. The heading reads "Suggested for AHPRA professionals" and surfaces the costs a locum claims most: your AHPRA registration fee, indemnity cover, CPD, equipment, subscriptions, training, and car travel. The full list is one tap further down.

Categories cover the spread of what a clinical contractor spends on:

• Mileage: business kilometres claimed at the ATO cents-per-km rate.
• Professional body fees: your AHPRA registration plus your college or association (RACGP, ACRRM, AMA, ANMF, PSA, APA, OTA, APS, ADA, and the like).
• Indemnity insurance: Avant, MDA National, MIPS, MIGA, or equivalent professional indemnity cover required for AHPRA registration.
• CPD: CPD home or program fees, peer review, e-learning, portfolio tools.
• Training and courses: one-off courses, conferences, and exam fees that relate to your existing role.
• Equipment: stethoscope, clinical supplies, a tablet for clinical use.
• Subscriptions: Australian Medicines Handbook, Therapeutic Guidelines (eTG), UpToDate, specialty journals, work software.
• Use of home as office, IT and communications, accommodation, public transport, uniform and PPE, accountancy, business insurance, marketing, and a catch-all Other for anything legitimate that needs a clear description.

If you use the cents-per-km method rather than a logbook, Sessional applies the current ATO rate of 88c per business kilometre, capped at 5,000 business kilometres per car per income year. The rate already bundles fuel, servicing, and depreciation, so you cannot also claim those running costs on the same kilometres.

To log a trip, choose the Mileage category and enter the number of kilometres in the optional Kilometres field. The dashboard tallies your year-to-date business kilometres and values them at the ATO rate on the Mileage metric card. Once you pass the 5,000 km cap the cents-per-km claim stops accruing, and the counter resets at the start of each new financial year on 1 July.

You can model a single trip first with the public ATO cents-per-km calculator before you commit it to your log.

Use the Add expense tile (or the round plus button in the top bar) and fill in:

• Category: the Suggested group is tuned to your profession.
• Description: a short note, for example "Fuel for Dubbo clinic cover" or "Avant indemnity renewal".
• Amount: the dollar cost in AUD.
• Date: when you incurred the cost.
• Kilometres, receipt ref, notes, and link to session: all optional, covered below.

Your running totals update immediately: total expenses, this month, mileage value, and the count of categories you have used.

The form has an optional Link to session dropdown listing your last 90 days of shifts, each labelled with its date and workplace. Tying a cost to a specific shift earns you three things:

• A concrete audit trail for car travel: the cents-per-km claim only applies to work kilometres. Linking the trip to the actual shift pins it down, for example "62 km, 14 Feb 2026, Parramatta GP clinic cover".
• A true per-shift margin: your earnings dashboard shows a per-shift margin table once you have linked expenses. A $1,650 day with $80 of travel and parking is really $1,570 net, which is what matters when you decide whether the rate is worth repeating.
• Evidence for a short-pay dispute: if a workplace contests a claim, the linked costs give you receipts with context.

Linking is optional. Overheads such as AHPRA fees, indemnity, and subscriptions are not shift-specific and should be left unlinked. Travel and consumables usually should be linked.

Attach a receipt to any expense from the receipt column. Once attached, you can view or download it again, or replace it with a new file. Receipts are stored securely and visible only to you.

As the log grows, narrow it with the built-in tools: free-text search on the description, a category filter, and a From and To date range that combine. You might view only indemnity costs for the 2025-26 financial year, then switch to 2026-27 to audit the year in progress.

Click CSV to export the current view as a spreadsheet for your tax agent, to import into bookkeeping software, or to keep an offline backup. The export respects your date filter.

Total deductible expenses are subtracted from your gross earnings to give a clearer picture of your taxable profit. That feeds your income tax and Medicare levy estimate, sharpens the amount you should set aside for your tax bill, and helps you see whether you are using your deductions fully. For the full modelling, including sole trader versus Pty Ltd and your super reserve, see the tax planner guide.